US ELECTION - 2016

I remember watching the first Republican Primary Debate. There were so many candidates. I looked at all of them before they started speaking and thought that Rand Paul looked better than the others. When they started speaking I liked Rand Paul because he said he will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. People started calling him an isolationist and he lost support and had to drop out early.

I knew Donald Trump would be the centre of attraction because he is some sort of a celebrity. I liked the fact that he had a similar view regarding intervention in other countries. He said there will be no more ‘regime change’, that he would not topple the governments in other countries. I read his book ‘The Art of the Deal’. In it he says he makes controversial statements just to get into the news. It is a strategy. He sees it as free advertisement. He says even bad publicity is good because people come to know about you. He had to spend much less on his campaign because of all the free publicity. He played the media and hogged the limelight. He could brand his opponents ‘Lyin’ Ted’, ‘Crooked Hilary’ etc but none of them could brand him. The media were totally biased against him and lost all credibility. They seemed to think that their experts are the only ones who understand what happens in a debate and that the people have to accept their decision on who won the debate. People have brains, they can watch a debate and understand what the candidates say and decide who won. They don’t need any experts to decide for them.

People usually think about their own interests. If I was an illegal immigrant in the US, I would support Clinton because I would not want to be deported. If I was an American who lost a job because manufacturing went overseas, I would support Trump because he says he is going to bring those jobs back. Since I do not live in the US, the issues there do not concern me. The issue that bothers me the most is the war in Syria. The West armed the rebels and created a civil war there. So many people are dead, injured, homeless and fleeing the country. Clinton’s plan for Syria was to take on Russia, the Syrian government and ISIS. Trump’s plan was to work with Russia and the Syrian government to defeat ISIS. Trump’s plan is better. Some European governments are now trying to convince him not to work with Russia. That would only prolong the war.

Trump’s victory was a surprise for many people. Nobody knows what kind of a President he will be. Only time will tell.