The elections are coming in America and the media focus has been removed from everything else but this eventful election. Since the election of Ronald Reagan I have literally watched every US election with keen interest but I have never seen anything like what is unfolding in this democracy.
This time around the stakes are so high and for all of us who are interested in electioneering, we are not going to blink and let off any moment pass by. Until November 3rd, all the world shall remain in apprehension until the results are all out. The volume of early voters says a lot more than we can comprehend.
And why is the rest of the world having so much keen interest in this election? The answer lies in the fact that America is the leader of the free world. This is a country that has been thriving so much to stay ahead of the rest in literally everything. Even China has vested interests in where this election is going to take America.
Growing up in the era of the Cold War, a lot of us in democratic countries always envied the way things were going in the US. We watched movies from Hollywood and admired driving the big cars from America. We all dreamed of going to America.
For most of us, the end of the Cold War was victory to America over the Soviet Union. The United States had shown the world that they were above all nations. I was personally happy for the collapse of the Soviet bloc because I grew up fearing they would detonate an atomic bomb.
In September 1992 I had an opportunity to tour American military facilities in Germany where the headquarters of the European Command was based. That was the moment of truth for a young Second Lieutenant who was coming from an African country with a force of less than 10 000 troops. At the time, the US had 82 000 troops remaining in Germany after the biggest troop draw down the country had ever made.
My belief in the strength of America was further solidified in my first trip to the US in the winter of the following year. It was a great country awash with resources. Almost everyone lived an enviable life. But for some reason I kept picking a few articles in the print media that sort of disparaged the strategy of the US in leading the world. But who made America the leader of the world? It is America who curved her destiny among nations to reach that position of strength. But it seems the country is beginning to collapse on its own weight.
For some countries like China, the demise of America will help them in consolidating power to themselves. And of course they have been working at it over the years. But who would ever think that America would chart her own way to destruction. The coming elections are taking this enviable country to that path of self-destruction.
A few weeks ago I watched the news on television and to my amazement and utter disbelief there were protesters in the streets armed to the teeth with automatic weapons. The law in the US allows citizens the right to bear arms. What is still awaiting further clarity and interpretation is whether the arms can be carried in public. The Supreme Court still has to deal with this matter.
The bearers of arms in public have clearly identified themselves as the Trump supporters. The president himself has not fallen short of giving his supporters orders on what to do. In the case of the protests in the State of Michigan, Trump has urged his armed supporters to liberate the state. It has never happened in the history of America that a sitting president has threatened to undermine the authority of the state by engaging militia groups.
The militias have arisen to the call to challenge the Black Lives Matter peaceful demonstrations which decry the racism attitude displayed by the police. President Trump himself has refused to condemn these gun-toting groups but instead he has cheered them on. He has publicly announced that the Proud Boys should “stand down and standby.”
Stand down and standby is in fact a military command. The world must prepare for a great showdown in America after the November election. The militia groups that religiously support Trump are not going to take their dear leader’s loss lying down. The militia groups are an extension of the National Rifle Association, an organization that has supported Trump all the way to the White House. They supported Trump financially and he owes it to them.
The NRA represents the radical right and that is where Trump belongs, I don’t see how they will want one of their own to leave the White House without a fight. The president has been slowly building his case by making accusations of voter fraud. All of a sudden a mail voter system that has served America so well for many years has lost credibility according to the new Trump definition.
The NRA has a strong membership of five million members and they are one of the oldest civil rights organizations at almost 150 years and very influential in American society. The NRA support base goes far beyond the five million and this should be a cause for serious concern.
Early voting has signalled to the rest of the world that this is no ordinary election year. The soul of America is at stake and it is what the American citizen is trying to salvage. It is the American citizens who can save their country from imploding. But the future beyond elections does not look that good.
After the announcement of the results, there is going to be chaos if Trump losses. His militia who are currently on “standby” will then spring up to action to defend him. The cost of defending democracy will this time around come in blood. The good thing is that the US intelligence has worked far ahead of these militia groups.
