Coming out of what can be termed a nail-biting contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the rest of the world has come to realise that the United States of America as one of the world’s oldest democracies has cracks all over its system. It is for the people of America to go back and seal all those glaring cracks as soon as Congress and the Senate resume their duties. Democracy is one of the most intriguing forms of political rule. Popular as it may seem to be, sometimes if not most of the time it is left open to abuse by players in the field. Regardless of what is done to secure it, the system always remains open to abuse. This is a system where the people have a ritualistic right to appear at the polling station once in a given period to elect their leaders.
It is ritualistic because beyond the date of elections, the electorate becomes a spectator and waits their turn after the end of the candidate’s term comes to an end. Well, in some countries such as the US, the process of impeachment becomes the only available avenue to redemption in a situation where their leader has committed certain misdemeanours. When the founding fathers of America penned that Constitution creating among other things the route to political leadership, they had in mind a country whose citizens would never consider themselves to be greater than the country they are supposed to serve. Therefore certain things were no clearly spelt out. It is these assumptions that are now hurting America. Donald Trump has done everything in his powers to undermine a system that has served his country so well over the two and half centuries it has existed. Because the polls consistently showed that he was waning off the radar of popularity, he quickly brought along a new Supreme Court judge as a stop-gap or in case he lost the election. The speed at which this process was driven had all the tell-tale signs of planning to “legally rig the elections” through the latest appointee.
What Trump has been preparing to do from within the White House precinct has all been legal but though morally wrong. There is point where morality has to be seen to override the prerogative of the written law. Saint Paul of Tarsus notes that “the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” It is not always the law that can address society’s needs as in the case of the United States of America. And I strongly believe that the law and particularly the constitution should be found to be dynamic and changes should be made as often as is necessary to suit the needs of the people. Already there are several lawsuits placed before Supreme Courts at state level seeking to either stop the counting or to overturn certain results. And how do you challenge a system that has served the country well for so long? It can only point toward individuals who are only pursuing self-serving interests .But the way the election that went about has been an indication that Americans are still not protective of their democracy as many of us have always been made to believe.
Trump should never been given such a number of votes. He did not deserve the vote at all. Donald Trump will go down as the worst American president. He has taken over the tittle from Calvin Coolidge who was elected president and served from 1923 to 1929. Ironically he was also from the Republican Party. Coolidge was nicknamed “Silent Cal” because he preferred to remain silent even at moments when the nation wanted to hear a word from the president. Coolidge was best at indulging in the waters of mortality as opposed to doing his work at the White House. It is said he would leave the Oval Office to imbibe and often he would go overboard and would come back to the office as a liability Like Coolidge, Trump has chosen to indulge on watching television and twitting all day and in the process missing out very critical issues in the running of the country. But what does Joe Biden have to offer? That we will see when he goes past the 270 post. The most appropriate question we all should be asking is; what are his credentials and what is his past like?
The man has been in government for far too long to doubt him. He has been in the workings of government for far too long as a senator and particularly as the vice president. For some people in Africa, the success of any of the two presidential candidates has no bearing in the advancement of the African continent. Biden has been involved in the early days of his political career as a vocal critic of the apartheid government when it was so unpopular for any white man in America to do so. It was his 23rd July 1986 speech that catapulted him to fame regarding his anti-apartheid activism. This was delivered on the floor of the senate hall and he spoke with all passion against what he called the Afrikaner government. It is from such reflections that we derive hope in his presidency as Africans. His past association will rekindle a new desire to consider the African continent more favourably. The Trump government had no favourable policy for Africa and if allowed to continue, it will still have no plan for Africa.
Before the counting ends, the outcome of the presidential race is already known. All thanks to the American people who came in their millions to come and make a collective decision. This is good thing about democracy; it is that time when all human beings become equal by casting a single vote.
