Breakfast With Bwana
Closing Thoughts Before The Election Is Decided
By Anil Madan
It is now just past 6:00 pm on election day and my thoughts go back to 2016. On that election day, I tried to discern what was going on, but there was virtually no useful information from the news media. It seemed then that the news media just didn’t want to report a Trump victory. I wrote early that day that something weird was going on.
Today, I have watched a bit of CNN, a bit of MSNBC, and a bit of Fox while also scanning WaPo and the NYT. My sense is that they are all flailing, babbling about meaningless statistics on voter composition, voter preferences, voter turnout — anything but solid numbers on how the vote is going.
Part of this is that with about 100 million early votes and a ton of them mailed ballots that need to be processed and counted, there are not as many exit pollees to give truthful — or untruthful — answers.
It is ironic that on a day that this great Democracy should be celebrating, we are showing signs of fear about the very fundamental thing that holds the great experiment that America is together. Photo – images.moneycontrol.com
Fifty-five years ago, I came to this country. I have always, always, always, said that I remain optimistic about the future of this country. But today, I had a lump in my throat as I left the office in downtown Boston. Stores were being boarded up with plywood sheathing. A Macy’s across the street, a Prêt-à-Manger this side of the street, and even the 7-Eleven store. I took two photos of the 7-Eleven store, a street view, and a shot of the front door.
It is ironic that on a day that this great Democracy should be celebrating, we are showing signs of fear about the very fundamental thing that holds the great experiment that America is together. I felt that we had irretrievably lost a piece of our Democracy.
As tempting as it is for some to lay this at Trump’s feet, this has been a long time coming. An even deeper and darker irony is that a nation known as the United States should put so much emphasis on what divides us than on what we hold dear in common. But we must give Trump his share of the blame.
“Fifty-five years ago, I came to this country. I have always, always, always, said that I remain optimistic about the future of this country. But today, I had a lump in my throat as I left the office in downtown Boston. Stores were being boarded up with plywood sheathing. A Macy’s across the street, a Prêt-à-Manger this side of the street, and even the 7-Eleven store. I took two photos of the 7-Eleven store, a street view, and a shot of the front door. It is ironic that on a day that this great Democracy should be celebrating, we are showing signs of fear about the very fundamental thing that holds the great experiment that America is, together…”
Hark back to 2016. Donald Trump had a chance to be a different and constructive President. In some ways, he tried. In some ways, he succeeded brilliantly in the eyes of his supporters as he met their expectations in many respects. He has nominated and confirmed some 220 federal judges including three Supreme Court judges. This represents as deep and long-range a change as any President has ever wrought. He has shaken up the immigration system. He has cut taxes. He has upset NAFTA and emphasized that NATO members need to contribute more to their security. He has tried — mostly unsuccessfully — to rein in Chinese overreach and abuse on all fronts. He has not gone to war with North Korea. He has killed the Iran nuclear deal. He has killed the Paris Climate Accords.
To his credit, he has fostered peace between Israel and some Arab countries. This is a massive achievement.
But in many ways, he has been a disastrous failure and a wrecking ball. He has undone regulations that protect the environment, clean water, clean air, federal lands, and regulations that protect the American people from fraud, abuse, dangerous and defective products, and predatory practices.
Let me repeat that he has undone protections for the American people. This is perhaps the single biggest failing any President could have.
But Trump has an even bigger failure. At critical moments, he has totally lacked common sense. He has failed to mount a cohesive challenge to the Covid-19 pandemic. Worse, he has exacerbated the number of cases with his callous and ignorant disregard of science, his rallies with thousands of people exposed to the virus.
America’s national glass front and our door are shuttered in shame.
And yet, he could be president for another four years.
Cheerz…
Bwana
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