Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FC), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has announced a bailout fund to be extended to troubled FCT Area Councils to enable them pay two months salary arrears to their workers. This is even as he mandated the Area Councils to look inward and immediately clear the remaining one-month for equity. The minister who spoke through his media team during an interactive session with members of the FCT Press Corps said however said that the National Assembly would have to approve the virement to accommodate such request first since FCT Administration has no provision for Area Councils’ staff salaries. He said that the FCT Administration has structured the repayment plan for the bailout to be from the 10 percent statutory payment to the Area Councils from the FCTA’s Internally Generated Revenue. He said that to ensure that these funds were judiciously spent, the FCT Administration would constitute a panel to conduct Personnel Audit of the Local Education Authority. Muhammad Bello said that about 90 percent of allocation from the federation account to the FCT Area Councils have been going to the Primary Schools. The minister also announced that the FCT Administration would look into the budgetary system of the FCT Area Councils, adding that the way they are designed is the beginning of the problem at the local level. He said that FCT Administration has recently cleared outstanding debt of over N250 million owed the cleaning and security contractors working in the FCT District and General Hospitals; and that the debt cleared was for services provided for up to December 2015. He said that the Administration has equally extended the services of those contractors to December 2016 to allow for room to plan for new engagement as from 2017 fiscal year. Muhammad Bello said that soon, the FCT Administration would fumigate the entire Territory as a way of eliminating rodents and minimize any possibility of Lassa fever. The minister said that the action would go along way in improving the environment and reducing the incidences of avoidable diseases. On Avian Influenza, he said that the Administration has been able to stamp out the bird flu because no new case has been reported since February 9 this year. [myad]
This is really exciting time in America; watching the drama of the 2016 Presidential nomination process from a distance, I find the contests, the debates, the arguments, the hustling and jostling on both sides of the mainstream political aisle, most instructive, and intriguing. The world’s most advanced democracy is proving once again that freedom is a golden ideal and that anyone who seeks to lead it, must undergo a rigorous test of leadership and courage. So far, the presidential primaries have proven to be a sifting process, and after last Tuesday, better known as Super Tuesday, many of the otherwise promising candidates have dropped out of the race, leaving the field to just a few survivors.
But the prospects are clear: Senator Hillary Clinton seems a sure bet on the Democratic side, with Senator Bernie Sanders still trailing behind. The Republicans too may well end up with Donald Trump. The other contenders: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich may not succeed in displacing Trump. And this in itself is a source of anxiety, to both Americans and non-Americans alike. If the race gets down to a Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump scenario, we all have every reason to be anxious. Suppose Trump wins and becomes America’s President?
Donald Trump is a snarling insurgent and a nativist. He has said all the worse things that should never be uttered by anyone seeking to lead a responsible and diverse nation. His campaign has been marked by insults, anger, put downs, bully tactics, rants and unapologetic immaturity. He has not been able to articulate any coherent policy, but he has proved to be very creative with populist histrionics. The list of Trumpisms is so frighteningly long and embarrassing. He recommends torture, and the killing of families of terrorists. He has been endorsed by white supremacists and he doesn’t quite seem to mind being labeled a racist. He threatens violence and on one occasion, he almost punched a protester in the face. He even got into an altercation with the Pope. He wants to barricade the American South border, and build a wall to shut out Mexico, because according to him, the Mexicans who cross the border into America are “rapists.” And when that wall is built, he insists Mexico must pick up the bill.
He doesn’t want Muslims inside America either, and he has dismissed Africans as unwanted and Nigerians as a problem. He says:
“We need to get the Africans out. Not the blacks, the Africans. Especially the Nigerians. They’re everywhere. I went for a rally in Alaska and met just one African in the entire state. Where was he from? Nigeria! He’s in Alaska taking our jobs. They’re in Houston taking our jobs. Why can’t they stay in their own country? Why? I’ll tell you why. Because they are corrupt. Their Governments are so corrupt, they rob the people blind and bring it all here to spend. And their people run away and come down here and take our jobs! We can’t have that! If I become president, we’ll send them all home. We’ll build a wall at the Atlantic Shore. Then maybe we’ll re-colonize them because obviously they did not learn a damn thing from the British!”
This certainly cannot be the temperament of a man who wants to be President. Indeed, one of the most amazing things that has happened in the on-going process is how a real estate and reality television celebrity, whose best achievement is inheriting wealth, and turning around a family business, more by instinct rather than any special technocratic ability, has ended up, getting close to winning the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party, with the frightening prospect of becoming President of the United States on January 20, 2017.
The irony is that everyone underestimated him. The media loved the headlines that he offered with his many offensive remarks. He was regarded in many quarters as a comical distraction, and a bubble that may soon burst. There were pictures of his current wife, looking like a siren, with her drop-dead gorgeous figure, and skimpy dressing that belongs more to Hollywood rather than the White House. When Ted Cruz upstaged him in the Iowa caucuses, there were sighs of relief, but since then The Donald has won every other primary, and on March 1, he won in seven of the 11 states. He is also likely to do better than his closest rivals in the coming caucuses. Except a miracle happens, Donald Trump will be the Republican flagbearer for the 2016 Presidential election. He has received endorsements from key members of the Republican establishment, something that was thought unlikely. In a recent debate, his fiercest opponents even said they would support anyone that wins the GOP nomination. It may be too late to “dump Trump.”
He did not invent the votes that have put him comfortably in the lead. Republican voters actually gave him the votes. While voters at party primaries do not represent the general voting population, they are nevertheless saying something about the American mind at this moment. Trump’s message of xenophobia, protectionism and isolationism attracts large followership and excites the conservative crowd. The average American is angry: angry with his circumstances, with the establishment, with the lack of jobs, with the economy, with politicians, with foreigners. Trump shapes all that anger into rhetoric and he offers himself as an alternative. He is not part of the establishment; he is against it. He calls himself a “common sense conservative” but he is actually a political insurgent. The only time he has said anything that sounded Presidential was after Super Tuesday, when he departed from his usual script.
This has been taken as a sign that perhaps Trump will re-brand, and that his style so far has been nothing but populist gimmickry. As President of the United States, he would probably change that style, recruit experts to handle state affairs, and restrain himself. But can America afford to vote on the basis of that possibility? Can America afford to gamble? Trump is impulsive and non-conventional; there is no guarantee that his Presidency will not trump America and embarrass the party of Abraham Lincoln. The character of the leader affects nearly everything else. It will be too much to believe that Donald Trump is merely acting, given his surplus confidence.
Mrs. Hillary Clinton is a better choice, but going into a general election, she would have to deal with the division within the Democratic fold. Bernie Sanders, her leading rival, has such a devoted grassroots followership that has divided the Democrats into the pro- and anti-establishment wings. Sanders has mobilized such a fanatical political base within the party and on social media that does not trust Mrs Clinton. She has been branded a friend of Wall Street and the status quo, whereas Sanders and his supporters insist that the best way forward is to change how Washington works, and they do not believe Mrs Clinton can do that.
Despite her attempts to move a little to the left in recent times, the insurgents running a “Bernie or Bust” campaign may move to the Trump side during the general elections because they are convinced she is play-acting, just to win the nomination. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is admired for his progressive, liberal ideas. But again, just as in Trump’s case, his mostly young supporters are motivated by anger and insecurity. Sanders wants to redistribute wealth, checkmate Wall Street, and revolutionize health care. The young and the angry are excited but those ideas are not properly articulated in policy terms. And in any case, will the American voter be willing to have as President a man who says he is a “socialist?”
Mrs. Clinton’s big challenge is to play the role of a unifier and take steps to unite the party, after winning the Democratic nomination. She will definitely need that “Bernie or Bust” crowd. She struck the right chord when she spoke recently about love and unity, quoting the Scriptures. “Love never fails. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Corinthians 13),” she said.
“These are words to live by, not only for ourselves, but also for our country. I know it sometimes seems a little odd for someone running for president in these days, in this time, to say we need more love and kindness in America. But I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart we do. We do.
“There is no doubt in my mind that America’s best years can be ahead of us. We have got to believe that. We’ve got to work for that. We have to stand with each other. We have to hold each other up, lift each other up, move together into the future that we will make.”
These are wise, consolatory words. Mrs Clinton has her heart in the right place and has both the experience and the maturity to lead America. Senator, former Secretary of State, and 42nd First Lady of the United States, more than 25 years in the limelight has exposed Hillary Rodham Clinton to intense media scrutiny, creating what many consider an image problem. But whatever that is, it can be surmounted. A Presidential contest between her and Trump will amount to a choice between love and hate, between the sober and the outrageous, between the respectable and the grossly self-contradictory. America needs to encourage love and kindness within its borders and also stand with the rest of the world. The angry American voter who feels under-represented, alienated, jobless and unfulfilled, and who desperately wants to punish the establishment, may be making a comment on mainstream politics, orthodoxy and the performance of the Obama administration. But that anger should not be turned against the rest of the world by putting a xenophobe and closet dictator in the White House.
Democracy is tricky; it sometimes ends up as a parody of itself. When the people clamour for change, they can vote with their hearts, and prove impervious to plain sight reason, and overlook likely pitfalls. We can only hope that Donald Trump does not become the symbol of the change that Americans are seeking. That would be sad indeed for the free world. [myad]
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has identified some factors that made most Nigerians to keep dirty environment which has caused so many health hazards to the people.
The Minister who spoke today as he flagged off the Households and Community based sanitation exercise at Kurudu, a suburb of Abuja, in the Abuja Municipal Area Council said that one of the causes is that the society and relevant institutions have not been carrying out their statutory responsibilities professionally and diligently.
The Minister said that another cause is Town Planners and other professionals involved in city planning have not been doing the planning well by providing spaces to dump refuse to prevent people from dumping refuse by the road side or road dividers.
According to Muhammad Musa Bello, the daily dirty habits of the people and lack of effective enforcement have contributed immensely to the poor sanitary condition.
He made it clear that the society has roles to play to keep the environment clean and to ensure the maintenance of the green.
“Unless we tackle all these and change our attitude, we would continue to flounder in dirty which of course is unacceptable to his Administration.”
The Minister charged the residents in the Abuja Municipal Area Council to be exceptionally clean for the reason that the Council hosts the Federal Capital City where the President, members of the National Assembly and members of the diplomatic corps reside.
“If any Area Council could afford to be dirty then certainly it is not AMAC. The ‘Clean and Green’ exercise is unique in its totality as it carries two messages at once, cleaning and greening.”
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed who was represented at the occasion by the Director of Special Duties in the Ministry, Engr. Okunnu Otosin Kehinde expressed happiness over the collaboration of FCTA with the Federal Ministry of Environment on “Environmental Sanitation” to ensure the provision of clean environment for healthy living in the Territory, and assured of her strong commitment to make the collaboration sustainable.
The Minister stressed that environment of filths and dirt constitutes so much public health hazards to the people and therefore called for concerted efforts to rid our habitats of dirt.
Welcoming guests to the occasion, the Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Mr. Micah Jiba thanked the Minister for introducing the Household and Community Sanitation exercise; adding that it would go a long way to reduce incidences of avoidable diseases in the Territory. [myad]
A middle aged pastor (name withheld), in one of the new generation churches in Asaba, Delta State, has revealed how he caught his wife allegedly having sex with a choir master of his church.
The pastor, who spoke to journalists in Asaba said: “I have been inundated with reports about my wife having sex with her choir master, but I kept my ears to the ground until the fateful day I was called to a hotel around Ezeani Avenue, Asaba where I caught my wife pants down in the hotel room.”
With twelve years in their marriage, the pastor who narrated his ordeals in tears said: “I have been married to her in the last 12 years without a child. She has exposed me to the winds; people spread all kinds of rumours about me.”
He said that the choir master on interrogation admitted to the crime and begged for forgiveness.
It was gathered that the lady, a native of Esan land in Edo State (name withheld) had been warned by the church members who smell a rat of her illicit relationship with the choir master, but their warnings fell on deaf ears as the love birds allegedly resumed their sexual intercourse with pride.
A member of the church, Rosemary Iwoha who claimed she stumbled on the choir master and the pastor’s wife in the church neck deep in kissing said: “I met them kissing one day and I reported to our Daddy about it.”
The pastor said the woman had since left his house, adding that necessary action would be taken against her soonest. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has described those who are agitating for the actualization of the Republic of Biafra as jokers.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the President said that most, if not all those who are agitating for the Republic of Biafra were not born when the last war was fought on the same issue during which over two million lives were lost.
“At least two millions Nigerians were killed in the Biafra war. And for somebody who were not born at the time to wake up and be agitating for the same Biafra is a big joke. Looking for Biafra after two millions people were killed, they are joking with the security and Nigeria won’t tolerate Biafra.”
It is on record that the declaration of the Independent Republic of Biafra in 1967 led to a civil war as a result of which millions lost their lives. The civil war ended in 1970.
The administration of President Buhari has always maintained that Nigeria’s unity is a priority for the country and that while peaceful pro-Biafran protests are welcome; demanding the separation of the Biafran territories is against the constitution. [myad]
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned Nigerians against using second hand and substandard mobile phones, saying such devices pose greater risk to the users.
Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta gave the advice at the occasion marking NCC special day in the ongoing 37th Kaduna International Trade Fair.
Professor Danbatta, represented by Hajia Maryam Bayi, debunked insinuation that telecom facilities like masts and towers pose health hazards to residents around such facilities, saying cell phones, pose greater health risks than masts.
“Today, there are different types of handset in the market. Some of these devices have been used and dropped in the other parts of the world. Some are devices that did not meet international benchmarks for safety and other requirements.
“The commission has a list of type approved handsets in its websites. These are models ascertained to be of international standards and do not affect the quality of services in the networks.”
He insisted that second hand devices pose health risk to the users and degrade quality of service even as he advised telecom consumers to be wary of the sources of telecom devices they use.
On the telecom facilities, Professor Danbatta said, World Health Organisation (WHO) has dismissed insinuation that masts pose health risk to people living around. [myad]
Wife of Kogi State Governor, Hajiya Hafi Bello has given birth to twin baby boys in a private hospital in Abuja. Hajiya Hafi is the second wife of the Governor,
A statement released by the Special Adviser on media and strategy to the Governor, Abdulkarim Abdulmalik, said the children, who were delivered in the early hours of today are in sound health with the mother.
Abdulkarim saidthat the governor received the news with joy after just over a month into his administration.
Governor Bello is the first Kogi state governor to be blessed with twin babies while in office. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the new Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji Aje Ogungunniso 1 not to depart from the foot-steps of his predecessors as he formally mounted the throne today
In a message at the coronation, President Buhari celebrated Oba Adetunji’s ascension to the ancient throne of his forefathers, saying that as the 41st Olubadan, he should follow in the worthy and commendable footsteps of his predecessors by working diligently for peace and development in Ibadan, Oyo State and Nigeria.
The President called on Oba Adetunji to also do his utmost best, in his new role as the chief custodian of the traditions of his people, to preserve and propagate the admirable culture and customs of Ibadan.
President Buhari assured the new Olubadan of the full support and cooperation of the Federal Government as he strives to lead his people forward and contribute meaningfully to the development of his domain, Oyo State and the nation.
He prayed to God to grant Oba Adetunji long life, good health and the wisdom he needs for a successfully reign. [myad]
Nigeria’s former president, President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented what he called the hypocrisy of the Western countries which introduced democracy but are not practicing it.
According to him, the western countries are not doing enough in the practice of democracy and good governance, which they push developing nations to practice.
“Is there any justice in this? No. Any fairness? No,” he said even as he traced some factors of violence, insecurity and radicalization to the homes, schools, churches, mosques and states.
Obasanjo spoke today at the 2016 National Summit and 4th International Colloquium, with the theme: ‘Human Security, Violent Extremism and Radicalization: seeking a Sustainable Solutions’ organized by Centre for Human Security at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, as part of the retired General’s 79 birthday.
He challenged the international community to rise up to the challenges on global insecurity, stressing that the international community should ensure there is justice and fairness in the fight against global insecurity which is the only way to sustainable peace.
He cited some countries whose citizens are suffering from injustice due to negligence from the international community, an ugly development he described as regrettable and not to the best interest of the victims and nations affected.
“I went to Syria when I was President of Nigeria. One of the places I was taken to was a refugee camp where those refugees have been since 1948, nothing has been done to them. How do you want their children to think.
“In Norway, I met some members of the Taliban. We spent two days together. They are in the second echelon of the leadership, I was told the top ones will not come out and when we listened to them. We are bound to say yes, they can get something better than they were getting.”
Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said that Senator Dino Melaye is suffering from what he called verbal diarrhea for delving into a matter as private as his marriage to his heartthrob.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Peter Okhiria, Governor Oshiomhole described Melaye’s comment on the floor of the Senate yesterday on the need to patronize made-in-Nigeria goods as an unprovoked verbal assault launched by one Senator Dino Melaye on the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, while making a contribution on the floor of the Senate.
“As a nephew of the Governor and members of the same party, we expected Senator Melaye to tender an unreserved public apology to the Comrade Governor, to no avail. It is an open secret that Senator Melaye cannot maintain a decent matrimonial home hence he could descend to this pedestrian level of using the hallowed chambers to “cargorise” women as if they were pieces of items for purchase.
“Any responsible individual that is truly worth to be called a Senator, a position that convokes respect, decorum and decent public conduct, should know the limits of his verbal diarrhea.
“The liberty of free speech guaranteed in the hallowed chambers does not impose lunacy on anyone to disparage other Nigerians, let alone pry into their matrimony in a very derisive manner. We had intended to ignore this uncomplimentary comment as one of the several empty displays of the Senator, but the fact that it tends to reduce women to pieces of tissue calls for this response.
“As we probed into Dino Melaye’s humanity, we were reminded that he is a man known for his vainglorious rodomontade and the childish display of his ostentatious lifestyle complements his love for foreign items.
“Many of such euro-centric mentality he has persistently displayed on social media, to underscore his materialistic eccentricity, hence his dialectical opposition to made-in-Nigeria goods.
“But an attempt at making women wear the garb of goods to be picked off the shelves was to take the issue to a ridiculous and irresponsible level. By delving into the private affair and marriage of the Comrade Governor, Senator Melaye has exposed himself as a simpleton and a court jester whose words and tactlessness cannot be taken seriously by matured people.
“We advise that Melaye should mend his ways with his ex-wife and concubines before coming to the village square to display his crass ignorance and emptiness to the Nigerian people. If he has anything to offer, Dino Melaye should concentrate on making good laws for the people of Nigeria rather than descend to a ridiculous level, thus displaying to the whole world his unworthiness to sit in the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian Senate. Vanguard. [myad]
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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FC), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has announced a bailout fund to be extended to troubled FCT Area Councils to enable them pay two months salary arrears to their workers.
Anything Can Happen In America, By Reuben Abati
But the prospects are clear: Senator Hillary Clinton seems a sure bet on the Democratic side, with Senator Bernie Sanders still trailing behind. The Republicans too may well end up with Donald Trump. The other contenders: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich may not succeed in displacing Trump. And this in itself is a source of anxiety, to both Americans and non-Americans alike. If the race gets down to a Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump scenario, we all have every reason to be anxious. Suppose Trump wins and becomes America’s President?
Donald Trump is a snarling insurgent and a nativist. He has said all the worse things that should never be uttered by anyone seeking to lead a responsible and diverse nation. His campaign has been marked by insults, anger, put downs, bully tactics, rants and unapologetic immaturity. He has not been able to articulate any coherent policy, but he has proved to be very creative with populist histrionics. The list of Trumpisms is so frighteningly long and embarrassing. He recommends torture, and the killing of families of terrorists. He has been endorsed by white supremacists and he doesn’t quite seem to mind being labeled a racist. He threatens violence and on one occasion, he almost punched a protester in the face. He even got into an altercation with the Pope. He wants to barricade the American South border, and build a wall to shut out Mexico, because according to him, the Mexicans who cross the border into America are “rapists.” And when that wall is built, he insists Mexico must pick up the bill.
He doesn’t want Muslims inside America either, and he has dismissed Africans as unwanted and Nigerians as a problem. He says:
“We need to get the Africans out. Not the blacks, the Africans. Especially the Nigerians. They’re everywhere. I went for a rally in Alaska and met just one African in the entire state. Where was he from? Nigeria! He’s in Alaska taking our jobs. They’re in Houston taking our jobs. Why can’t they stay in their own country? Why? I’ll tell you why. Because they are corrupt. Their Governments are so corrupt, they rob the people blind and bring it all here to spend. And their people run away and come down here and take our jobs! We can’t have that! If I become president, we’ll send them all home. We’ll build a wall at the Atlantic Shore. Then maybe we’ll re-colonize them because obviously they did not learn a damn thing from the British!”
This certainly cannot be the temperament of a man who wants to be President. Indeed, one of the most amazing things that has happened in the on-going process is how a real estate and reality television celebrity, whose best achievement is inheriting wealth, and turning around a family business, more by instinct rather than any special technocratic ability, has ended up, getting close to winning the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party, with the frightening prospect of becoming President of the United States on January 20, 2017.
The irony is that everyone underestimated him. The media loved the headlines that he offered with his many offensive remarks. He was regarded in many quarters as a comical distraction, and a bubble that may soon burst. There were pictures of his current wife, looking like a siren, with her drop-dead gorgeous figure, and skimpy dressing that belongs more to Hollywood rather than the White House. When Ted Cruz upstaged him in the Iowa caucuses, there were sighs of relief, but since then The Donald has won every other primary, and on March 1, he won in seven of the 11 states. He is also likely to do better than his closest rivals in the coming caucuses. Except a miracle happens, Donald Trump will be the Republican flagbearer for the 2016 Presidential election. He has received endorsements from key members of the Republican establishment, something that was thought unlikely. In a recent debate, his fiercest opponents even said they would support anyone that wins the GOP nomination. It may be too late to “dump Trump.”
He did not invent the votes that have put him comfortably in the lead. Republican voters actually gave him the votes. While voters at party primaries do not represent the general voting population, they are nevertheless saying something about the American mind at this moment. Trump’s message of xenophobia, protectionism and isolationism attracts large followership and excites the conservative crowd. The average American is angry: angry with his circumstances, with the establishment, with the lack of jobs, with the economy, with politicians, with foreigners. Trump shapes all that anger into rhetoric and he offers himself as an alternative. He is not part of the establishment; he is against it. He calls himself a “common sense conservative” but he is actually a political insurgent. The only time he has said anything that sounded Presidential was after Super Tuesday, when he departed from his usual script.
This has been taken as a sign that perhaps Trump will re-brand, and that his style so far has been nothing but populist gimmickry. As President of the United States, he would probably change that style, recruit experts to handle state affairs, and restrain himself. But can America afford to vote on the basis of that possibility? Can America afford to gamble? Trump is impulsive and non-conventional; there is no guarantee that his Presidency will not trump America and embarrass the party of Abraham Lincoln. The character of the leader affects nearly everything else. It will be too much to believe that Donald Trump is merely acting, given his surplus confidence.
Mrs. Hillary Clinton is a better choice, but going into a general election, she would have to deal with the division within the Democratic fold. Bernie Sanders, her leading rival, has such a devoted grassroots followership that has divided the Democrats into the pro- and anti-establishment wings. Sanders has mobilized such a fanatical political base within the party and on social media that does not trust Mrs Clinton. She has been branded a friend of Wall Street and the status quo, whereas Sanders and his supporters insist that the best way forward is to change how Washington works, and they do not believe Mrs Clinton can do that.
Despite her attempts to move a little to the left in recent times, the insurgents running a “Bernie or Bust” campaign may move to the Trump side during the general elections because they are convinced she is play-acting, just to win the nomination. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is admired for his progressive, liberal ideas. But again, just as in Trump’s case, his mostly young supporters are motivated by anger and insecurity. Sanders wants to redistribute wealth, checkmate Wall Street, and revolutionize health care. The young and the angry are excited but those ideas are not properly articulated in policy terms. And in any case, will the American voter be willing to have as President a man who says he is a “socialist?”
Mrs. Clinton’s big challenge is to play the role of a unifier and take steps to unite the party, after winning the Democratic nomination. She will definitely need that “Bernie or Bust” crowd. She struck the right chord when she spoke recently about love and unity, quoting the Scriptures. “Love never fails. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Corinthians 13),” she said.
“These are words to live by, not only for ourselves, but also for our country. I know it sometimes seems a little odd for someone running for president in these days, in this time, to say we need more love and kindness in America. But I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart we do. We do.
“There is no doubt in my mind that America’s best years can be ahead of us. We have got to believe that. We’ve got to work for that. We have to stand with each other. We have to hold each other up, lift each other up, move together into the future that we will make.”
These are wise, consolatory words. Mrs Clinton has her heart in the right place and has both the experience and the maturity to lead America. Senator, former Secretary of State, and 42nd First Lady of the United States, more than 25 years in the limelight has exposed Hillary Rodham Clinton to intense media scrutiny, creating what many consider an image problem. But whatever that is, it can be surmounted. A Presidential contest between her and Trump will amount to a choice between love and hate, between the sober and the outrageous, between the respectable and the grossly self-contradictory. America needs to encourage love and kindness within its borders and also stand with the rest of the world. The angry American voter who feels under-represented, alienated, jobless and unfulfilled, and who desperately wants to punish the establishment, may be making a comment on mainstream politics, orthodoxy and the performance of the Obama administration. But that anger should not be turned against the rest of the world by putting a xenophobe and closet dictator in the White House.
Democracy is tricky; it sometimes ends up as a parody of itself. When the people clamour for change, they can vote with their hearts, and prove impervious to plain sight reason, and overlook likely pitfalls. We can only hope that Donald Trump does not become the symbol of the change that Americans are seeking. That would be sad indeed for the free world. [myad]