As America goes to the polls, those listening to Trump, thinking he’s “blunt and honest” may soon realise that they are unknowingly planting a dangerous reptile on the global roof. When he goes berserk, neither America nor the world shall know peace.
June 16, 2001 was the very first time President George. W. Bush of the US met with Vladimir Putin of Russia, while Bush held sway in power. It was at a summit hosted by the then Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Drnovšek and the Slovenian President, Milan Kučan.
At the winding up press conference, something interesting happened in the global power arena. A question was posed to Bush on whether he could trust Putin. In response, he said, “I looked the man in the eye. I found him very straight-forward and trustworthy – I was able to get a sense of his soul.”
That was such a famous gaffe packed with discomforting naivety, which Bush paid for dearly for the rest of his presidency.
Condoleezza Rice, Bush top aide and diplomat was later to pass off the impression that Bush was eventually betrayed by Putin. Interestingly, Putin still remains relevant, for want of another word, in the American political scheme of things. Not a few American and international observers have whispered matter of factly that Vladimir Putin and top Russian officials were behind the many hacked emails dotting and oozing odiously on the US political landscape and that actually mounted obstacles in the way of a hitherto supposed smooth passage of Hillary Clinton to the White House as next POTUS. While Putin would readily dismiss and describe this as laughable, the accusing fingers simply refuse to drawdown. There has not been a potent argument in denial.
Why would Putin despise Hillary so much?
Since the days of Obama in power, no top ranking diplomat has been as vocally opposed to Vladimir Putin as Hillary Clinton. This has led to very malevolent hangovers bordering round ego-hurting skirmishes.
From stoneage territorial expansion ambitions and crude conquests, to domestic political manipulations, Hillary Clinton has never spared Vladimir Putin in utterances that project the latter as a modern-day despot. One of these is Hillary’s denouncement of Putin as she accused him of rigging Russian elections and strangulating the democratic process to get to power. Clinton said “Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation…” Also, “Regardless of where you live, citizenship requires holding your government accountable”.
Clinton said rigged elections prevent people from having their voices heard. She said the Russian people, like in everywhere else in the world, deserve the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted. This sheer effrontery gutted Putin.
On December 8, 2011, at a meeting with some of his key advisers, he described Clinton as stoking the fire of crisis in his home country. He said Clinton “gave the signal to the activists which they latched unto culminating in an unprecedented crisis of protest across up to 70 cities in the Russian federation.” Putin not only saw this as an interference in his jealously protected sovereignty, but also as a personal affront. Putin reacted in these words: “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they (the elections) were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers”. As mildly a protest as that sounded, Hillary Clinton was marked.
That was not all. In 2009, soon after President Obama took office, the Russian constitutional requirement had ensured Putin’s protege, Dmitry Medvedev became president. A man who indulged in his good taste for gadgets, the musical stereo on a certain breakfast timeout with Putin caught the sharp eyes of Russian bloggers who estimated the musical equipment to be close to two hundred thousand dollars! What more, it was a showcase of western technology! This “guy-man” allure of Medvedev must have been spotted as a probable “weak” link through which Hillary Clinton mobilised the American government under Obama to work with Medvedev in her neo-Russian-relationship strategy called “reset”. Reset was symbolically launched on March 6, 2009 through a symbolic button push joined by the duo of Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton. Back home however, Russian political hardliners and obvious Putin loyalists were not comfortable with this proposition as they viewed America’s romance with Medvedev as an attempt to undermine Vladimir Putin and water down his political influence.
Clinton had at no time hidden her distrust and maybe disgust for Putin. She once told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that she entered the Russia-reset project with “skeptical eyes wide open”. She had once described Putin as a former KGB operative who couldn’t have had a soul. She once told President Barack Obama to tread with arm-distance with Putin. “Do not patronise and do not warm up to him”. That’s the language she believes Putin understands that can cut him to size.
This portends that to Hillary, Putin represents only the dastardly and ominously cold and organised savagery that the KGB represents, which decent people should relate to in measured steps.
It is with all these as background that Hillary Clinton went into battle with property mogul and billionaire tycoon, Donald Trump. And as the battle for the White House reached a feverish crescendo, with Clinton delivering punching polls at Donald jaws, matching and surpassing his advertising spend dollar beyond dollar, Trump abrasively sought “refuge” under Putin. Wikileaks Julia Assange offered himself as a willing pawn in a very high wired political chessgame in a tripartite mutually agreed objective to mow down Clinton.
Donald Trump, a very unlikely president in an ideal theatre of political civility, having employed all the populist-cum-conspiracy theories in the world, from misogyny to racism to subtle xenophobic tendencies, had driven himself to a dead end and all by himself set himself up for political self-destruction. Believing he had successfully tickled the ears of American white supremacist voters with unrealistic and at best fairytale promises, he made his ride to the White House a mission impossible, even becoming a pariah of some sort amongst decent leaders of the world. I listened to British billionaire, Richard Branson describe Trump as an unforgiving soul who vowed to him over lunch to destroy those he approached but who couldn’t help him raise money in his time of financial distress. Branson warned America against entrusting leadership in the hands of such a petty and unstable fellow. Clinton therefore had a double digit lead over Trump before Jim Comey, FBI Director, in his pious ambition for self-glorification dealt the democrats a blow and became the most hated man on their list! Whatever Jim Comey was thinking, he either wittingly or unwittingly stationed himself within the hot zone of political crossfire which many observers opine might tilt the elections balancing scale in favour of a man who declared bankruptcy more than thrice, revelled in sexual assault more than teens, despised citizens of other races and who up till now has pending cases over the sincerity of purpose behind the founding of Trump University for which he’s been accused of shady inclinations.
Trump knows that Putin, deep within him, mocks the West’s liberal democratic model, undermines trans-Atlantic ties, manipulates Eastern European countries and supports the far right against the EU.
Trump knows that Putin despises Hillary Clinton because she stands in direct defiance of his vision to position Russia as a power bloc capable of weakening Europe, NATO and the US through deadly plots. She has consistently and unapologetically bared her mind that the United States must find ways to “confine, contain, [and] deter Russian aggression in Europe and beyond.” Trump knows that this resolve and strength that Clinton wields is a direct threat to the ego and ambition of Putin. And, Trump knows that Putin hates Clinton, not because he loves America but because he wants to rein America in and if possible subject her under his whims as another “captured” territory.
It is such a shock then that Donald Trump is openly endorsing Putin and even promising to recognise his annexation of Crimea, a territorial expansionist victim of Putin which sparked global outrage!
Irrespective of Donald Trump’s blind ambition, demonstrating a dignifying pride and an unflinching loyalty to one’s nation should not take the backseat to the extent that a Putin who from faraway Russia has done all he could to undermine US interests in global affairs is the man Trump openly celebrates.
I have watched seasons of 24, where Keifer Sutherland acted as the irrepressible Jack Bauer. In this brilliant, breathtaking action-packed movie, which depicts the operations of homeland security in the battle against terrorism, I had a peep into the complex tissues and layers of factors that come into consideration when US Presidents are on hot seats in situation rooms to take crucial decisions. I’ve listened to the debates, the arguments and counter-arguments of fierce patriotic chiefs of staff and aides. There were always self interests, egos, biases, intrigues and subterfuge. But one thing always stood out: The pride in and patriotism towards the American nation.
This is the pride and dignity that Donald Trump lacks. Openly declaring and endorsing Putin as a “smarter leader” in clear mockery of his own sitting president is a dangerous trajectory towards imminent national shame. It’s a pathetic foregleam into the danger that Trump represents. It portends that if American’s sovereignty and pride of place had to be sacrificed in crucial decision-making moments, Trump will adopt the principle of selfish convenience and allow his perceived myopia-end to justify the means. Conversely, my understanding of the painstaking debate American leaders indulge in to take crucial decisions clearly demonstrate that Trump, when he gets to power as he desperately covets now, will find out how extraneous and nerve racking it would be to take his regular decisions by fiat, which promises to isolate America from the rest of the world. The sad thing is, he knows he’s deceiving his listeners, I don’t know if his listeners know they are being deceived.
In my reading of Japanese Macaques, also known as “Snow Monkeys”, I realised an interesting and fascinating point. They indulge in plenty of quarrels. But even at that, they also indulge in what is called “grooming each other”. Through this, they, for hygienic reasons, remove lice, dandruff and other unwanted things from one another’s furs. But not limited to that, their grooming also has a definite social and dietary meaning attached to it. The monkeys are paying attention to each other by the grooming thus fulfilling their societal needs. These are animals who adopt a cooperative strategy of symbiotic coexistence for “SOCIETAL NEEDS”.
What kind of animal do we call Trump? A fitting name is perhaps, King Cobra which, just out of desperation for survival and dominance, would plot every scheme in the world to swallow up fellow snakes if push comes to shove. That is the tragedy in Trump’s campaign speeches and it is simply sacrilegious!
As America goes to the polls, those listening to Trump, thinking he’s “blunt and honest” may soon realise that they are unknowingly planting a dangerous reptile on the global roof. When he goes berserk, neither America nor the world shall know peace. As it looks bleak for him to become POTUS, except through miraculous upset, it signals a hopeful relief for a fragile world.
Akin Fadeyi is Convener of the Not In My Country Project.
