The thing about democracy is that it
deludes everyone into believing that there is no limit in the ambition to
acquire political power (legitimately). And nowhere is this myth more firmly
established -for such it is, a myth- than in the United States of America.
Indeed, one of the enduring shibboleths that has captured the American
imagination is that, no matter how low-born you are, you can rise to become
president of the country. It is a sincere belief, but not one that is grounded
in reality. Not unless the qualifier of money is thrown in.
Finding the money to run a campaign for
election is arguably the biggest challenge a prospective candidate faces when
he or she begins to consider running for anything. From dog-catcher to sheriff
or mayor, to governor or congressperson, and, most notably, for President of
the United States itself. The amount of money that you need to fork out for a
presidential run staggers the mind. You’re talking hundreds of millions of
dollars. If you’re rich, really rich, you can put in, as down payment, some of
your own money, just as Ross Perot did when he made his bid in the 1992 run and
now, in the current contest, Donald Trump. But when it comes to going all the
way, no individual has the stomach required to unload up to the billion dollars
of their own coin that, it seems, is necessary to make a successful bid. The
wise man or woman, therefore, is best advised to get the money from the people
who they purport to want to represent. Frying them in their own fat, so to
speak. But who fries whom in whose fat is an open question, though. What with
all those political action committees and big-business interests clamouring to
maintain their hold on the levers of government.
But this piece is not about the money.
It is more about the ambition and how some candidates in the presidential run
allow it to trump (pun deliberate) everything. Those who manage to successfully
find their way through electoral primaries do so primarily by the weight of
their ambition, which generally leads them to do or say things that the ordinary
person would be ashamed of. The example of this tendency in this election cycle
is Donald Trump, whose campaign is so terrifying that it reminds one of the moves
that Hitler employed in 1930’s Germany to gain power. Remember how that ended.
Trump’s declarations on various topics including immigrants, Muslims, women,
the disabled, international trade and security agreements can be directly
superimposed on what the German dictator said before and after he came to
power. Pretty scary.
I know it is Halloween, but the season
is meant only for terrorizing little children and, maybe, give them a little
treat afterwards to calm their nerves. But what Trump has been saying is giving
us adults, nightmares. The package he offers would only create dissension
between peoples of different races, religions and genders. That’s the good bit.
If and when he wins. The really appalling underbelly though, is what will
happen should he not win. As of the closing stages of the third Presidential
candidates’ debate, Mr Trump refused to clarify whether he would accept a
result that gave the presidency to Hillary Clinton. His followers are talking
about deploying torches and pitchforks in the event, but when it gets down to
the wire, the arsenal at their disposal is a much more lethal one than those
low-tech implements of revolution.
I don’t’ know about you, but me, living
along the northern border of a nascent banana republic gives me the
heebie-jeebies.
Tell Fren Tru
