January
22, 2017
By
Saeed Qureshi
Within 24 hours of the oath-taking
by the newly elected president Donlad Trump of Republican Party at the Capitol
Hill, the first executive order that he signed on Friday January
21 was to direct the government agencies “”to scale back as many aspects as
possible of the Affordable Care Act or the so-called Obama Healthcare Plan.
The backlash to the first
presidential executive order about the Obama Healthcare Plan has been stunning
and colossal. Not only within the United States but hundreds of such protests
have been observed and planned in the coming days. President Trump should have taken some time
before striking down a healthcare plan that benefitted millions under-privileged
and poor sections and individuals of the society.
Incidentally, the “Women March” a
representative organization striving for women and children’s rights all over
the world held a huge gathering in the vicinity of the White House and
Washington Monument to raise voice for women and children rights that would be
curtailed by replacing or abolishing Obamacare. It was participated by about
over half a million people. That crowd looked much larger than the one that
assembled on the previous day to greet president Trump.
It may be worth mentioning that such
Women’s Marches occurred all around the world, with 408 marches reported alone in
the US, and 168 in other countries. “The march drew hundreds of thousands to Washington
D.C. alone and anywhere from 2.9 to 4.2 million in cities throughout the U.S.,
thus becoming the largest single-day protest in American history”.
During
his visit to the CIA headquarters on January 21, he spent a good part of his
speech in lambasting the media dubbing them as “among the most dishonest human
beings on earth,” accusing them for minimizing the size of the welcome crowd on
his inauguration day.
Simultaneously
at his first news conference, Sean Spicer the new White House press secretary, severely
admonished the journalists for what he described as wrongly and maliciously
diminishing the number of the welcoming and pro-Trump crowds on the
inauguration day. He threatened to take the action against such newspapers and
even journalists. The television showed that the welcome crowd at Obamas’
inauguration in 2009 was much larger than that of Donlad Trump in 2017.
This can be construed as curbing
the freedom of expression by intimidation and by threats of using the state
machinery against those news channels, newspapers and individuals who write or
report such matter that is distasteful to the president and his cohorts. Would,
for that matter the Republican Party join hands with him in snubbing the media?
What difference then can be drawn
between the controlled and oppressed media of the authoritarian regimes and
that of the United States. USA is a true democracy with shining hallmarks of
freedom of expression, liberty, religion and pursuit of happiness.
If the new administration intends
to curb the freedom of speech and fundamental rights ingrained in the American
constitution and which have been in place and respected for almost two hundred
years, then it would be the most ignoble disservice to this great country which
leads the entire world in matters relating to the respect of its citizens and
galore of liberties and a firmly entrenched democratic culture.
It
appears that the very start of the term of the 45th president of the
United states has been on the thorny grounds and with a mindset of belligerency
and bitter relations against whosever criticizes and opposes his government and
himself. It is to be seen that in coming days and weeks would the media corps
be tamed by strong arms tactics and threats of fixing the detractors.
Interestingly
Mr. Trump sent a Tweet rejoinder over the huge Women’s protest gathering on
January 21 in Washington and on other rallies in United States and abroad. The
message said “Celebs hurt cause badly”.
In another tweet, he boasted that
31 million people watched his inauguration on television that was 11 million
more than the ratings from 4 years ago, on Obama’s inauguration. As a matter of
fact, president’s Obama’s inauguration was viewed by 38 million people.
President Trump and his team is
going to start their governance in the backdrop of a massive show of anger and hatred
against the former president and even the media. As such there are grounds to
believe that the newly installed administration with president Trump may not
last long and may not be able to complete its constitutional term.
It also evident that the president
of the mightiest country in the world has engaged himself in a frivolous tit-for-tat
tweeting and name calling over such non-issues as to whose crowd was larger and
whose was not and whether press reported in his favor or against him. It is
unbecoming of a president who should not stoop so low as to engage in a blame
game like the children in the streets.
President Trump nurtures a
temperament that is shorn of tolerance and compassion. He is in the habit of
using filthy expletives and unparliamentary language to discredit or demean his
detractors and political adversaries. Among his target of repugnance and
diatribe are also the media and individual journalists whom he unabashedly
declares as “dishonest media”.
Already the elections under which Donlad
Trump won the presidency are shadowed by question marks and controversy. The
hacking of 2016 elections has not been entirely ruled out and it is still a big
question mark. Until and unless a high-powered inquiry authority finds a
conclusive outcome either in affirmative or in negative this issue would remain
burning and open to be settled for the satisfaction of the other contender
Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party. The hacking apprehension and issue
cannot be swept under the rug.
It would also be pertinent as to
how president Trump would deal with South America specifically Mexico and Cuba.
If the past bitterness is revived, then it would be a big setback to the policy
of reconciliation enunciated by president Obama. At the same time president
Trump displays his intense hatred towards the Islamic countries most of whom are
the friends of the United States all along. If under the guise of destroying
Islamic radicals, the societies in the respective countries are destabilized,
then such a strategy or outlook would turn the billions of Muslims against the
United States. Why president Donald perceives Islamic countries as enemies?
The best he can do is to help the
Islamic countries under threat from internal religious zealots and radical outfits
by giving aid, both financial and military, to help them and deal themselves with
the indigenous threat of militants. That would be a wiser strategy. If he wants
to pursue an unwise course of military intervention, then it would destroy the harmony
that exists between most of the Islamic states and the United States thus far.
Instead the hostility between the
Islamic states and the United States would pop up. The radicals would rebound
and retaliate with a new vigor by pleading that islam was in danger at the hands
pf the heathen and Christian societies. This looks like the clash of
civilizations or a confrontation between islam and Christianity
The United States is mostly out of
the political and military adventures and blocs for a few decades now, notwithstanding
the military aid to Syria and Iraq. But such a kind of international crusade is
pregnant with extremely frightening consequences and would revive the era of
military conflicts; this time against the Islamic world.
Simultaneously president Trump
should not frighten the world at large with scary tactics and threats. It is
not going to work. He cannot force the American entrepreneurs and industrialists
to close their industries and business networks overseas and in countries like
China. It is a Herculean task that might take decades to become fruitful and
productive. In a period of four years it would be impossible for the entrepreneurs
to wind up the huge business conglomerations on the call and in conformity with
the wish of the newly elected president.
As such president, Trump’s agenda
to expel the undocumented immigrants out of America, browbeat China, destroy
the Islamic societies, abolish Obamacare just in opposition to a democratic black
president, are non-issues and can blow back in the most negative manner against
the incumbent Trump administration. The proposed Wall between Mexico and United
States cannot be built in four years’ mandate of the incumbent administration.
In the meantime, one has to ponder
why president Trump has a soft corner for the Russian president Vladimir Putin
and as to why he abhors Europe, China and most of the Islamic States whose majority
is having cordial bilateral relationship with the USA in diverse fields and
domains.
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