As the world, especially its Western 'division', takes a much-needed breather at the conclusion of a year of political upsets and upheavals, I pen the following thoughts - better suited, admittedly, to a number of separate, in-depth opinion pieces - upon the state of affairs humanity finds itself in, inextricably linked and connected - however superficially disparate - as will become apparent... .
Though no defender of the horrified elites and establishment intelligensia in their consensus reaction to the election of Donald J Trump, yet far from a supporter, either overt or covert, of either his peculiar persona or his political agenda, let me place on record the following thoughts - generally scribbled initially months before his 'impossible' elevation to America's and essentially the world's highest political office - to suggest 'how we got here'... .
The mainstream Western media can really blame no-one but themselves for giving the business tycoon come political novice/upstart known as 'the Donald' publicity well beyond his just desserts - from the earliest Republican primaries (in which he not only wielded the weapon of personal insult but effectively honed it to a force to be reckoned with) through his notorious rallies (attended, in all actuality, by fewer people than Bernie Sanders' own, generally completely ignored and overlooked, sizeable campaign meetings), through his ultimate upset - to upset all upsets - on November 9th.
And so what does our world have to look out on as we soon end 2016 and move on into 2017? The prospect, as outlined recently, of Wall Street financiers re-establishing and ensconcing themselves anew in the U.S. Treasury, appointees 'one and all' apparently uniquely unqualified to serve in a federal administration, and now - 'above and beyond' all those tidbits of political novelty and wet-behind-the-ear-ness, and, much more concerningly, apparent duplicity and utterly shattered promises and pledges (to the working-class poor) - we have the unbelievably scary prospect of a renewal of the hitherto dormant arms war between the U.S.A and Russia...despite every apparent indication that Trump and Putin (and hence their respective administrations and hence nations) get on swimmingly, like a house on fire... .
What to make of all this? Hey, the possibilities are endless and not altogether all that edifying or hopeful, eh...but nevertheless, let me propound several ideas, brief as they will necessarily be for the moment:
*The infatuation, nay obsession, of mainstream American - and by extension Western - media generally with the ups and downs, the insides and entrails, of a celebrity culture has paved the way, has provided the necessary groundwork for the Trump phenomenon to bud, blossom and flourish... .
*Which infatuation, nay obsession has been constantly, shamelessly and shamefully pandered to by none other than media darling and 'everyone's favourite President', Barack Obama himself - and wife Michelle herself...who have almost literally bent over backwards - from party night immediate post-election (2008) itself...to indulge and humour and otherwise pander to in every conceivable way...the 'Hollywood set', the 'movers and shakers' of 'Who's Who in Americana', especially its esteemed and ever-feted celebrities...from attempting to tell jokes that were only funny to those select few (and their politically partisan supporters) and/or to belittle, demean and otherwise 'poke the borax' in the face of ye average Jane and Joe - too unsophisticated to necessarily 'get' all that was being said or implied but too busy getting on with earning their daily crust to have the time let alone the inclination to seriously consider much less respond to such subtle as (yet ever so devastating) criticism, mockery and insulting innuendo... . And yet the selfsame President no doubt implicitly expected such 'ignorant masses' to get in an uproar on behalf of his lonesome whenever Mr Trump et al called his very citizenship into question... .
*Where is the concern, yea outrage, over the effective ethnic cleansing of the Christian population of the various Middle Eastern nation-states that has now been 'progressing' for well-nigh the 'best' part of the last few years? No, Mr President, your silence has been deafening...and the 'verdict' could well be placed - justly, fairly and squarely - over your presidency thus: 'found' missing in utter inaction... . But I exaggerate, of course...for months and years after one population group after another had been effectively wiped out somewhere-or-other (and the next place) in or around Iraq and Syria especially, your ever-in-earnest Secretary of State, John Kerry, helped draft some resolution or the like (even had it taken to the United Nations or the International Criminal Court) condemning what was happening as crimes of war, of crimes against humanity. And indeed they were - and continue to be - but where was the moral outrage, the sense of the sheer evil of what was occurring - with the noteworthy (and admitted) exception of the U.S. airstrike protection of the persecuted Yasidis of Iraq...?
So for all those Westerners especially so very vocal these days about the lack of democracy in the likes of Egypt - post the admittedly undemocratic military ousting of President Morsi - when were your voices last heard bemoaning and decrying the random bombing of Egyptian Coptic churches and massacring of the Christian innocents harbouring therein... ? Yes, sad to say, once again the silence has been deafening...but is nevertheless inexcusable and unconscionable, as has been that of 'that great humanitarian', Barack Hussein Obama himself...who has, as I say, virtually lifted heaven and hell on behalf of Muslims worldwide but has said - and much more importantly, and shamefully, done - little to console or uphold much less defend and protect the world's, especially its Middle Eastern, severely persecuted Christian minorities. I cannot help being reminded of the memorable refrain of a once would-be Republican presidential contender, a Barry Goldwater, a man cited as a warmonger and a threat to world peace and liable to trigger World War 111 itself. Back in 1964, at the Republican Party's presidential convention, he stated (if my recollection is accurate): 'Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue, extremism in defence of good is no vice.' Perhaps words that the prematurely-Nobel Peace Prize-anointed current United States President would have been well to have taken to heart and acted upon as he began his own unprecedented presidential tenure, though for thousands and tens of thousands and perhaps millions of Middle Easterners - whether Christians or otherwise - such hypotheticals would give some very cold comfort indeed.
Or as many another historical worthy has put matters: talk is cheap - it's actions that matter.
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