Shortly after Trump’s victory, a new conflict escalated between his backers and detractors disputing the validity of two rival narratives: ‘constitutional legitimacy’ as decided by the ballots whereas his presidency lacks ‘popular legitimacy’ due to his failure to win the popular vote which is irrelevant vis-à-vis the Electoral College. ![]() As a hyper political philosophy, Trumpism has embedded the Republican Party with unprecedented narratives of misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. Large segments of Democrats, Independents, as well as Republicans wonder whether America has entered a danger zone after electing its 45th president this year. “Not our President” Protests and Deep-rooted Uncertainty Many Americans remain fearful of the worst-case scenario in the next four years: “fascism, a wall, mass deportations, the end of Obamacare, a Trump brand on the White House and either a trade war or an actual war with China (since war is the easiest diversion from domestic unhappiness).” (3)Ībove all, many politicians and intellectuals – liberal and conservative – caution against some imminent chaos since Trump is a man with “a disordered personality and authoritarian tendencies.” (4) Accordingly, his electoral victory has been perceived a “declaration of a social civil war.” (5) We the people chose a man who has shredded our values, our morals, our compassion, our tolerance, our decency, our sense of common purpose, our very identity - all the things that, however tenuously, made a nation out of a country.” (2) Many Democrats, Independents, and Republicans have mourned the death of American democracy and feared a new era of authoritarianism.įor example, American historian Neal Gabler wrote in his “Farewell, America” article, “America died on November 8, 2016, not with a bang or a whimper, but at its own hand via electoral suicide. Trump's presidency confirms that America has reached some uncharted territories of polarization and fragmentation into two main camps: radical right-wing conservatives in deep America versus progressive liberals in eastern and western coastal states as shown in the electoral map. Trump managed to sway several swing states like Pennsylvania (20 votes), Ohio (18), Michigan (18), Florida(29), North Carolina (15) to secure a comfortable lead while promising “to drain the swamp” and to “make America great again. However, this disparity of votes did not translate in the so-called Electoral College, which favored Trump with 306 versus 232 for Clinton. ![]() Despite her lead by 65,383,628 popular votes or 48.2 % of the ballots, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost the election to Trump who won 62,759,366 popular votes or 46.3 % of the ballots. election showcases a historical and political irony. Almost everyone was wrong - including those in the Trump campaign who expected to lose.” (1) This is one sample of large-scale reactions of surprise and bewilderment across America and the world when American democracy falls into a state of political regression and 43% of the eligible voters do not go to the ballots. “To say that Trump’s victory was a shock may qualify as the understatement of the century. Revival of Neo-Nazism in America, 3) the risk of a majority dictatorship with the Republican dominance of the White House and both houses of the Congress, 4) Trump’s self-entrapment in a catch 22-situtation between maintaining a high approval rating and modifying his polarizing positions, 5) how his presidency embodies the new radicalism of the West, and 6) the significance of his victory, five months after the Brexit referendum, as pursuit of one-way globalization. It focuses on six interrelated scenarios: 1) the impetus of a self-sustaining social movement capitalizing on the ongoing “Not our President” protests across America, 2) ![]() Still, several questions remain open: will ‘President Trump’ distance himself from those racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, and Islamophobic positions heralded for by ‘Candidate Trump’ during his seventeen-month campaign? Will his team of advisors succeed in remodeling him into a president of inclusiveness, bi-partisan decision-making, and possibly tilting his policy toward some moderate conservatism? This report probes into the driving force behind Trump’s triumph as a vengeance of the ‘forgotten White man’ in rural America. It has also triggered new concern about the future of America’s Melting Pot philosophy. Trump’s electoral victory has provoked various reflective assessments of America’s socio-economic dynamics between the white working majority, or ‘middle class’, and various minorities who have embraced the ‘American Dream’.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |