At around 8pm, Bahrain time, today, I suggest that you tune in to watch the TV. Why?
That’s about the time when the next President of the United States of America is sworn in, at the Capitol Building, in Washington DC.
I have a sneaky feeling that it will be a big talking point and that on Saturday morning there will be a lot of coffee drunk as we all talk about the way it went.
In modern times, this is the President with the fewest number of votes; in fact, he didn’t actually get the most votes, Hilary Clinton did. But, of course, he won the Electoral College vote and that, by a small margin, means that he is going to swear allegiance today.
Racist, misogynistic, bigoted, gun-loving and stupid. These are some of the descriptions which have been used to characterise the 45th President. He’s the first to never have held a governmental position or to have been in the armed forces. He is reputed to have been in close touch, through ‘back channels’ with a certain Mr Putin, in order to further his chances, too. As a consequence, many, from his own Republican party, as well as others, feel that he could now also be the first President who could be influenced by Russia as they have ‘compromising information’ about him.
So, what do we have to look forward to, with our friend Donald in charge?
Already, his plan to remove the affordable care act, or Obamacare, as it has been dubbed, has begun. There seems to be no credible replacement, however, and he seems to be happy to place some 20 million American citizens – the ones with pre-existing conditions and so unable to get normal insurance – on the medical scrapheap.
Even though his nominee for Secretary of State, Rex, doesn’t quite agree with him, Trump is set, it seems, on blanket bans on Muslims entering the USA and on trade with most of the world.
He has, as NBC News reports, over the course of his campaign made “141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues”. It’s likely that he will not be too sure what to do on Saturday January 21, as he awakes to the cold reality that what he says really does matter now. This is no longer a game.
According to Richard Bernstein, a respected journalist in the USA, Donald has a ‘pathological disdain for the truth’.
There could be two White Houses. The first, most public and ridiculous will be the tweet-a-minute, make-it-up-as-you-go, shoot-from-the-hip foreign policy which Donald has demonstrated is his particular forte. The second, which his nominees for high office have already demonstrated, will be a more measured, calm, frequently opposite view, which will be the one which actually prevails.
As time passes, and his muddled views and murky past catch up, he will face difficulties.
I suppose he will need to listen to his friends and close advisers in order to be sure to move things along in the right direction. He could always phone Vladimir.
Mike Gaunt is a former headmaster at St Christopher’s School, Bahrain
mikegaunt@gmail.com