Death Sanctioned

There is something sadistic and perverted about strapping someone to a gurney and injecting them with fluid and watch them descend into death. I always wondered what goes through the minds of those who are invited to view this ghastly ritual, let alone the person sinking. What solace does it bring to those who have lost loved ones to witness the death of the person who brought them misery? What gratification can be drawn from viewing the controlled death of another human being no matter how soulless that individual may have been? People say it brings closure, but at what cost and what purpose? Can the death of another person seared into one's memory ease the pain? I personally have not experienced the murder or rape of a loved one to walk in the shoes of those who have. But I cannot fathom being a spectator to the death of another, to quench my thirst for justice or seek closure. 
 
Sanctioned death as a form of justice was instituted since murder began and it has always been a spectacle. From  medieval times to the wild west, going to see public executions was a family outing. Even in recent times public executions in totalitarian states were used to instill fear and were often carried out in stadiums or city squares for all to witness. Hanging, stoning, decapitation, burning, boiling, crushing, dismemberment by horses, shooting, gassing, electrocution and lethal injection were some of the methods devised to kill. Death by hanging, shooting and lethal injection is still common around the world.

When the world emerged from the horrors of World War II, the move to abolish capital punishment began to gain ground. Taking someone's life by state sanction was seen as a gross violation of one's human right. As a result most developed nations abolished the death penalty, either in law or in practice. The United States is the only western nation that continued to put people to death. Out of the 50 states that make up the United States, 31 use the death penalty and so does the federal government. Today there are approximately 2900 inmates on death row across the nation, and 1400 have been executed since 1976.

On April 25, two prisoners were put to death by lethal injection in Arkansas in a single day. A double execution on the same day had not occurred since 2000 in the United States. On April 20th, another inmate had been executed and there were five more to follow. The state of Arkansas had not carried out a death sentence since 2005 and there seemed to be a sudden rush to put eight people to death who were condemned more than a decade ago. The reason, the drugs that are used to carry out the executions, were to expire. The drug of choice Midazolam was hard to come by, and the state was not willing to let it go to waste. So they scheduled to kill eight over a span of eleven days, the fastest pace of executions in decades. In all they managed to execute four. An injunction from a federal judge halted the executions citing, that the method of execution violated the inmates eighth amendment rights, which guaranteed a painless death. And the drugs being used to carry out the executions could not guarantee that. The Judge wrote "If Midazolam does not adequately anesthetize plaintiffs, or if their executions are 'botched, ' they will suffer severe pain before they die". Many drug manufacturers have objected to having their products used in executions and have refused to sell to prisons for this very reason. Previous botched executions by lethal injection around the country had created a climate of bad PR for the drug companies.

 A family member of one of the victims thanked the Arkansas Governor and the Department of Corrections for "flawlessly carrying out" the executions. According to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed one of the executions, the person "lurched and convulsed 20 times during the lethal injection".

All those who were sentenced to die, had no doubt committed horrific crimes. Their public death was no less horrific.

The debate around capital punishment and its use has always been a contentious one. Those who support the death penalty are seen as conservative in their viewpoint and those who oppose liberal. Those who support it offer a narrative which states that it deters crime, and some crimes warrant swift justice. Those who oppose it say, it is inhuman for a state to oversee the death of an individual as murder is murder either way. And statistics show that having the death penalty has not deterred crime and caused any significant dent in the murder rate. Amnesty International, the human rights organization that meticulously documents every execution around the planet, states that "the death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment". Also the death penalty disproportionately befalls those who belong to racial and ethnic minority groups, the poor and people with mental illness.

Capital punishment is a popular position to take on the conservative side, as it sends a signal that they are tough on crime and therefore care for society at large. But what creates a criminal is seldom addressed. It is paradoxical that on one hand a gun culture is promoted and endorsed, which to a large extent leads to violent death, and then the death penalty is seen as a solution to deter crime.

The gravest problem with the death penalty is that it is so absolute that it is irreversible. Since 1973, about 150 prisoners have been sent to death, who were later exonerated of their crime. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt. Some of those who were executed in Arkansas claimed they were wrongly convicted. DNA testing has exonerated many on death row and it is routinely denied in many cases.

A very important question to ask is, what is achieved in tangible terms by executing someone other than maybe some sense of closure to those violated. An often expressed heartless comment is, "well it saves tax payer dollars". The upkeep of a prisoner is a drain on the system. In reality what saves tax payer dollars is an investment in society that provides better mental health to those in need and not executions. While politicians squabble over health care and gun control, peoples lives are constantly put at risk.  The American prison system is overburdened disproportionately by African American inmates. Violent death from guns in the United States is the highest in the developed world. Investing in addressing these societal problems actually saves tax payer dollars and improves the health of a nation.

The debate on what kind of punishment suits a crime is an old and fierce one, around which complex laws have been formulated. The depraved custom of state sanctioned death is always seen as the final solution to extreme criminality. Two films Dead Man Walking and Into the Abyss, captured the complexity and humanity of a system that puts people to death with great dramatic effect, nuance and weighty introspection. To me the most profound commentary on capital punishment in popular culture was made by Anthony Burgess in his 1962 dystopian novel, The Clockwork Orange. The book follows the life of a deviant, antisocial, delinquent Alex, who engages in "ultra-criminal" behavior. After he is arrested, as an alternative to being executed, he is put through a controversial psychological rehabilitation program to cure him of his criminality. Alex plays along as he is subjected to various invasive experiments and is later proclaimed cured. As he walks out of the prison a free man, he briefly relapses into contemplating images of violence in his mind in front of an applauding audience and says "I was cured, all right"!. What Anthony Burgess conveys, is that the onus of creating a better human being is on all of us. There is no absolute antidote to prevent aberrant human behavior. But the legalized killing of someone for their crime is pointless and barbarous. Rehabilitation may not be totally possible, but for a humane society, it is a goal worth pursuing. State sanctioned executions are unethical and immoral in any society as they only bloody the system. It is what it is.

Historical Blindness

On February 27, 1933 there was a fire at the Riechstag Building (German parliament) in Berlin. A few weeks earlier, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party had swept into power in a democratic election, forming a coalition government. A young Dutch communist was found at the scene of the fire and was arrested for the crime. Hitler framed this incident as an attack on the German nation and its sovereignty and urged the president to suspend all civil liberties and penalize the communist party of Germany, which was a sizable opposition in parliament. With a vengeance, communists across the nation were arrested enmasse, including parliamentary delegates. With the opposition seats emptied, this very moment paved the path for Hitler to consolidate power and become the dictator that he became.

Who started the Riechstag fire still remains an area of much controversy, debate and mystery. Many historians believe the arson was planned and executed by the Nazis to gain absolute control and suspend democracy and push their tribal fascist agenda. Whether the Nazis started the fire or not, they used this moment effectively to spread fear and hate and achieved one of the most diabolical political goals in human history.

The echoes of what happened then are ever present. They have become a text book example of how tyranny can take root in a democracy. Many hope that institutions built to defend democracy from tyranny are there to safeguard its fragile nature. But it is the people who make the institutions strong by being vigilant and proactive. Institutions by themselves can be compromised from within if there is no oversight and if people do not perform their sacred duty by being active participants in their democracy.

What always amazes me is that "History" has an uncanny way of resurfacing to remind us of our follies. This is partly because humanity suffers from amnesia. When the embers of insecurity rise on the horizon, humans gravitate to their most basic instinct and become "tribal". The comfort the tribe offers becomes very enticing. And those who blow their bullhorn offering a vision of tribal preservation, homogeneity and dominance, suddenly become appealing and things that were abhorrent in the past become acceptable. The recent rise in hate against immigrants and a love for parochialism across the globe, is largely driven by tribal insecurity and a fear of losing tribal identity. From the color of one's skin, to one's religious beliefs and imaginary geographical lines that separate the haves from the havenots, anything that seems foreign is seen as suspect and a threat to the tribe and its glory.

America's Riechstag Fire in some ways, was when the Twin Towers in Manhattan fell on September 11, 2001. Soon after, the Patriot Act was passed and many civil liberties were suspended. While the reaction was not as extreme as Hitler's, the wars that ensued led America down a dark path from which it is still to return. The fear of another terrorist attack is constantly used as a reason to undermine democracy and the freedoms of its citizens. This trend still continues almost two decades later with a demand for more defense spending and less on social programs.

Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia in 2000. Since then he has successfully managed to undermine democracy be steadily dismantling all opposition and gaining a tight grip on the Russian media. The state has successfully demolished all dissent and elevated Vladimir Putin to the stature of  president for life. Using the media the state has successfully programmed the Russian population into believing that only a "strongman" like him can guide them through the turbulence of globalization in an increasingly dangerous world, where the balance of power shifted since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The control of the national media is so absolute, that the recent anti-corruption protests across the nation have been completely blacked out.

Vladimir Putin is said to enjoy high approval ratings, and is again foretasted to win the upcoming election, even though he has officially not disclosed his intention to run. It is hard to gauge how much of his popularity is real, as independent media has but all been extinguished. Anyone who opposes Putin either dies or is arrested as in the case of Alexei Navalny this week. Vladimir Putin has effectively rewritten the book on tyranny, and shown how an authoritarian system can emerge inside a democracy through corruption and deceit.

Russia played a prominent role in the recent American elections, and the US intelligence community strongly believes Vladimir Putin was at the helm of devising a strategy to undermine one of the world's largest democracy's four year ritual. His personal, vindictive, disapproval of Hillary Clinton they say was the driving force behind this action. The meddling brought the most unlikely candidate Donald Trump to the presidency and two months in, the shadow cast by Russia still looms large. Whether Donald Trump and his associates did Putin's bidding is a sordid tale whose conclusion is still chapters away. As the powers rattle sabers and the media refuses to let up, it is becoming more and more apparent that there is more to this murky affair than earlier thought.

Whether Vladmir Putin and Donald Trump had a back room deal, is a question for history to answer. But there is very little doubt, that the way the American president behaves, it seems he would rather be a strongman than a democratic leader who believes in consensus building. The slew of executive orders he has issued, have shown a desire to strike things with little regard for procedure and evidence. But unlike Putin, it did not take Donald Trump long to realize that institutions in America have more power than the president. What Putin took decades to do, Donald Trump wanted to achieve in a few months and realized this nation cannot be run like the Trump organization. Letting off steam on twitter, disparaging everyone who stood up to him, he showed the true colors of a man with an authoritarian bent. The despicable and shameful collapse of the healthcare bill put forth by an incompetent speaker of the house and an even more incompetent chief executive could not have been more telling on the limits to his power.

In his recent book On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from Twentieth Century,  Timothy Snyder proposes a survival guide to protect oneself and democracy, when signs of tyranny rise. Donald Trump's rise to the presidency have made many around the world uncomfortable. Primarily for the rhetoric he used during his campaign and the way he has behaved and continues to do so as president. In his book Snyder says "History does not repeat but it does instruct. Plato believed demagogues exploit free speech to install themselves as tyrants. It is thus an American tradition to consider history when our political order seems imperiled". According to Snyder, the Founding Fathers of America sought to avoid the kind of tyranny Plato and Aristotle warned us about, by establishing a system of checks and balances. The resilience of America's institutions are under scrutiny under Donald Trump's presidency. If he suffers from historical blindness, then as citizens it will be our duty to defend all that we hold sacred, with all our might.

It is what it is.

Truth and Logic in a Divided America

After much resistance, a few years ago, I finally got my Facebook page. Now everyday it beckons me to add my photo to my profile, but I ignore the prompt hoping to hold on to an inkling of anonymity in an all too pervasive cyberspace. I am not an avid user of Facebook and rarely "like", "poke",  "tag" "share" or "post" anything. But since the rise of Donald Trump I have found myself engaging more than usual. Facebook is the ultimate echo chamber which in many ways played a pivotal role in this election. And so all I see are things that are aligned with my world view. But every now and then, on someone elses "wall", I do encounter Donald Trump supporters vigorously cheering him on and ecstatic that he is in charge. I have gently tried to lock horns with some, trying to bring reason and logic to bear in an attempt to understand motivations other than mine. After a few rounds of back and forth, I often find a door slam on my Face-book or a quiet disengagement as the perceived gulf is wide or the will to see contradiction is lacking. One recent supporter responded with this diatribe which is telling

"There is WAY more hypocrisy on the left. if Hillary Clinton had won that would be the true low point. the same old liberal pc bullshit of being 'progressive' on easy issues like LGBT and abortion rights, while being in bed with wall street, doing nothing for working class, accepting money from Saudi Arabia for Clinton foundation, antagonizing Russia with no fly zones in Syria, and sending weapons to Ukraine. and this is all covered up with a happy progressive PC face. At least republicans are upfront about it. and with trump the corrupt elite are finally exposed. and you won't get Washington consensus and American exceptionalism being shoved down the throat of every other country".

Its been a month now since Donald Trump ascended to the throne of the American government. Since his inauguration, his continuing antics have dominated the news cycle to a point of mind numbing despair. You could not escape his daily deluge as he began to undo what his predecessors had put into motion by signing executive orders, which were mostly about optics rather than substance. His actions were met with protests mostly in cities with large populations of his detractors.

As he began to violate all established norms it left more and more people aghast. But his supporters found his bombastic methods refreshing as they felt he had not changed. The weight of the office had barely scathed him. And they saw in him a businessman taking decisions and not your conventional politician dragging his feet. He was delivering on all his promises he had bellowed about in his outlandish rallies. And there was only more to come.

When he declared the media the "enemy of the people" and the "opposition party" he received applause from his supporters. Bashing the media was a common occurrence at his rallies that brought cheer to his rowdy mob. Donald Trump it seemed had not stopped campaigning to the delight of many. But as president what he failed to recognize in the process, he struck a blow to one of the four  pillars of American democracy, which could one day become his own undoing.

Children in schools are taught that the American system of government created by the "founding fathers" in their wisdom, consists of the Legislative, Executive and the Judicial branch. Each put in place to keep a check on the other, as an antidote to autocracy. But what they are not taught with equal emphasis is that the freedom of the press enshrined in the first amendment to the constitution, is the fourth and most important pillar of American democracy that holds all three branches accountable. Without a free and respected press, there is no democracy. Donald Trump and his henchmen took the first step in steering the nation in the direction of autocracy by brazenly repeatedly attacking the press.

In the past, many administrations have had an antagonistic relationship with the press. The 37th president of the United States, Richard Nixon, was brought down by the Washington Post, for abuse of power and criminal behavior. Many think the legacy of Richard Nixon has come to haunt America again. Especially in relation to the murky relationship Donald Trump and his associates seem to have had and have with Russia. But this is uncharted territory and only time will tell how far the Executive branch is willing to go to keep cover.

There is no question, much like the government the media has faltered. It fell to its lowest stature during this past election and partly caused this catastrophe which is the present administration. But the corruption of American media started decades ago when large corporations began to acquire media organizations as commercial assets, steering them from public service to profit making entities. When the television landscape exploded with cable news, and the infinite broadcast space had to be filled with entertainment and information, 24/7 news channels were born. What CNN put into motion as a network was followed suit by others. Then the partisanship and opinion making began to dominate the news. Straight analytical reporting was just not enough for ratings. It had to be packaged for the demographic that tuned in. News anchors became news celebrities demanding millions of dollars for their face, book launches and magazine cover poses. They sacrificed their credibility for monetary gain and fame. With the advent of the internet and social media, the lid was blown wide open. The fragmentation that ensued created a frenetic space which became almost impossible to navigate for authenticity. This in no certain terms meant that good journalism was dead. It was just harder to find in the chaos and there was less of it. The noise birthed the phenomenon of "fake news" which spoke to people with predisposed ideas and belief in conspiracy theories more than reality. Donald Trump and his team tapped into this space and saw the broken system for what it was and emerged victorious. And now they are turning the tables on that very mainstream media that underestimated them by calling all those who don't applaud their agenda "fake".

During one of his campaign rallies Donald Trump boasted "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters". Any candidate in any other era would have imploded after uttering those words. But in this age of sex tapes and reality shows, sensationalism sells and only makes those engaged in it more popular. Notoriety is no longer a handicap it is an asset. And Donald Trump proved this fact by climbing all the way to the top.

Watching the first weeks of his administration unravel, it seems like he believes his mission is to govern only for those who voted for him and not pay attention to those who did not. For a man who is obsessed with good ratings, for some reason he has decided not to bother with it for governance. By organizing more rallies for himself where he can feel loved and adored, he has convinced himself that he is wildly popular. Hence his reluctance to acknowledge his loss in the popular vote and his  inauguration having a lack luster attendance.

Or there is another theory that is becoming more and more believable. Advisors who surround Donald Trump are calling the shots and he is playing the mascot. His inner circle headed by Steve Bannon, is laying the groundwork for all the new policies and shredding the old ones with a vengeance. From immigration, the environment, the arts, defense and healthcare, there is a decisive agenda at the core, to fundamentally change course. To steer the nation towards what Steve Bannon calls "economic nationalism". "America First" is the slogan that is used to mask what lies beneath. What Steve Bannon is charting for the country from the pinnacle of power, is antithetical to the conservative values of the Republican Party. The Republicans believe in an unfettered market space, smaller government and all round less regulation and taxes. What Steve Bannon is calling for is an anti-global economy that taxes companies and puts tariffs on nations that do not put what he thinks are America's interests first. Whether such an approach could stimulate growth and create jobs only time will tell. But if growth is created at the behest of higher cost of living, lower wages, increased disparity and a social agenda that is draconian, this experiment could take the nation back decades at the cost of great social upheaval.

It is clear from his speeches, documentaries and interviews, Steve Bannon is an ideologue. His tenure at the ideologically driven conspiracy theory ridden Brietbart News and his association with the alt-right only frames him to be more dogmatic than pragmatic. The problem with ideologues, is that they feel they have the answer to everything and are single minded in their push to see an agenda through. Towards that goal they feel it is justified to violate rules that govern the system within which they operate. As they are convinced they are the anointed agents of change and are working for the betterment of all people, it is just that they don't know it yet. This single mindedness can lead to autocratic behavior which we have seen shades of, in the disparaging of the press and in the implementation of an oppressive immigration policy that is wreaking havoc inside underprivileged communities across the nation. In the guise of evicting illegal immigrants Donald Trump's regime is pushing a whole segment of society into the shadows. The idea that "to live in America is a privilege not a right" is being peddled as the pretext for deportations. But the sentiment here is not all genuine as those who are profiled for deportation are determined by class, race and ethnicity.

If there is one thing that has been sacrificed at the alter of power lately, it is the "truth". In a deeply divided America such as the present one, truth continues to be suspect, and therefore logic has no meaning. All you have are opinions formed on perceived facts. And when those in power float ideas such as "alternate facts" and "fake news" one wonders what one should base ones opinions on? For those who find Donald Trump a mumbling bumbling fool hell bent on self destructing, what is to come may seem enticing and hopeful, but it can only be devastating and dire. For those who see a great future in him, the fall could be too steep to survive. It seems like America today is in a logjam and down stream are rapids and then a steep fall. It is what it is.

Normalizing Donald Trump

On January 20th Donald Trump will ascend and assume control of the United States of America. As commander-in-chief he will have the most powerful armed forces under his command and will oversee the largest economy of the world. He will become, as most people in America like to refer with pride, "the leader of the free world".

As he begins to assume office, the process of normalizing Donald Trump has begun. It began when he summoned media personalities, politicians, businessmen, Silicon Valley CEOs and celebrities to his tower in Manhattan and everyone fell in line in obedience. As he courted some and scolded others, inadvertently the normalization of Donald Trump began. Even though his behavior has shown little change from his brash and obscene campaigning days, there is a broad consensus that the weight of the office will force him to change his ways, in ways even he cannot foresee.

I frankly doubt it. I see a grave danger in normalizing Donald Trump. And if citizens lose sight of what motivates Donald Trump and become complacent they stand to lose more than they can ever imagine.

After the election, I  met several people who voted for Donald Trump, here in New York City and in New Jersey. What was appalling was that they were coy about admitting it. Maybe because they live in states where they are a minority. When asked what motivated them to vote for Trump, they had weak arguments clearly brainwashed inside a bubble. One person I met, said "well I did not think he would get elected!". Couple of millionaire surgeons I overheard in Scarsdale, an affluent suburb of New York City, were looking forward to a tax break. Everyone felt that the media was unfair and biased and the real Donald Trump would emerge once it was all over and he would be gold. They felt an outsider businessman is what we need in this hour to "drain the swamp" and  "make America great again". But few could articulate what really made America great.

What we have come to realize, is that there is only one Donald Trump and he is determined to change not only the direction of this nation, but all rules of engagement and ethics that have been established over decades. He clearly does not believe that America can only have one president at a time and in "elect" mode, he compromised the current president's standing and the nation's security by making outrageous statements on his favorite bulletin board, Twitter. His behavior over the last few weeks has been so egregious that I wonder if half the good people of this nation can see what they have gotten us into, focused on their selfish immediate needs.

His cabinet appointments consist of billionaires and generals with checkered pasts. Jeff Sessions his nominee for Attorney General, is a rabid supporter of the death penalty in addition to voicing controversial views on voting, civil and women's rights. As Attorney General of Alabama his pursuit of executions in spite of racial bias, defendants’ mental disabilities and other injustices raises concerns about how he will oversee federal capital prosecutions. It shows a total lack of commitment to due process and equality. Rex Tillerson, his nominee for the highest office in the cabinet, Secretary of State, is an oil baron with close ties to Vladimir Putin. He was awarded the highest civilian honor by the state for having extensive business dealings in Russia as the head of ExxonMobil, the largest oil company of the world. As he prepares to relinquish his position as head of the company he stands to gain a $180 million payout. Betsy Devos, a billionaire businesswoman is the nominee for Education Secretary. DeVos is a major Republican donor who has focused the bulk of her energy and political contributions on pushing to expand charter schools and taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools. She has not worked in public education nor served in public office. To top it all Donald Trump has nominated more generals to his cabinet than any president since World War II.

Donald Trump became president of America without releasing his tax returns. The true nature of his  finances are largely a mystery. Even though his voters think he is a businessman with an impressive record no one knows the extent of debt Donald Trump and his businesses carry. By resisting to divest his financial holdings, Donald Trump is poised to run the White House like his family business to benefit himself and his associates. The law does not require Donald Trump to shed his business interests, and he is leading by example. The Office of Government Ethics requires all cabinet nominees to file an extensive form, the 278, that lists stock holdings, business interests, board seats and other arrangements benefiting them, spouses, minor children, business partners or potential employers. This form is to be filled out before senate confirmation hearings. The Office of Government Ethics reviews the form; flags potential problems; and negotiates an ethics agreement letter in which the nominee agrees to divest, resign or otherwise eliminate potential conflicts. The letter helps protect nominees if they are ever accused of gaining financial benefits from their public service. Many of Trump's nominees have filed incomplete forms or have not yet signed their ethic agreement letters. His transition team is trying its level best to railroad senate hearings circumventing this very important procedure that is in the interest of the public.

The people Donald Trump surrounds himself with, defines the way he is going to govern for the next four years. His closest advisor Steve Bannon is probably the most controversial of them all. An extreme right wing hawk, his influence on the president can set a social agenda that can be extremely corrosive and can gut the progress made on civil rights and equality. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law and daughter his closest allies, bring nepotism to the presidency in the most profound sense. Advisor Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor who has railed against government regulation in financial markets, will have the ear of the president at all times making sure the oligarchs have a say in the government. His other advisors include personalities from Fox News and Kellyanne Conway who has been his ardent mouthpiece through thick and thin and her lawyer husband.

The foundations of the Trump administration are rooted in corruption and nepotism. The recent revelations of Russia's meddling in American politics to anoint Donald Trump have been deeply troubling. But it has not dissuaded Donald Trump from supporting Vladimir Putin and shrugging aside intelligence reports as being devoid of hard evidence. His and his supporter's nonchalant response in this matter is unnerving at best. It seems like Donald Trump is leaning towards establishing a Putin style government right in the heart of one of world's largest democracy; a new world order presided over by generals and oligarchs.

Many might think this assessment is far fetched as the American system of government has robust checks and balances in place to prevent any president from amassing too much power. What Donald Trump has proven time and again is that he does not intend to follow the rules. So far he has successfully avoided adhering to any ethics rules and clearly does not see any conflict of interest between public service and personal financial gain. Surrounded by an army of lawyers, there is no telling what other challenges he will pose to an established system that has never been attempted before. Watching the Congress and Senate fall in line, the future of America and the world does seem to hang in the balance.

The only way I am able to make sense of Donald Trump's electoral victory is by framing it is as an "anomaly"; a freak occurrence that has baffled not only his opponents but also his supporters. I am sure it even baffled him. There is no question a vast number of people in this country voted for him for reasons they are still trying to articulate and defend. I have read all the explanations, analyses and  surveys out there, that have tried to rationalize his ascent. For many voting for Donald Trump I presume felt like the most anarchic thing they could do to rage against the machine. To me it felt like the most "unpatriotic" thing to do. But what is to come, only time will tell. People think he will be good for business. But if business means "profit over people" and everything else that we hold sacred, then that is what we deserve.

January 20th happens to be my birthday. Having been observing the Trump presidency take shape, out of trepidation, I for one will not be celebrating.

It is what it is.

Looking Ahead

As 2016 comes to an end, I breathe a sigh of relief.

But what 2017 can bring remains more trepidatious than ever.

As Donald Trump ascends much hangs in the balance.

As right wing forces rise, feeding on fear and insecurity, it feels like the world is regressing

As truth is sacrificed at the alter of social media, and the conglomerate media loses integrity, people become prisoners of their echo chambers.

But we cannot lose hope in this hour.

As to lose hope, is to succumb.

It is what it is.

11/9 - TRUMP TRUMPS

I never thought an election outcome would affect me the way it did. I felt physically ill, emotionally drained and unable to sleep. Many friends in my circle felt the same. I realized I was living in a nation, that was profoundly divided. I always knew that, but was not aware of the extent of it.

The polarization that had begun in 2008, when Barack Obama became the first black president of this nation, was now complete. The path Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, The Tea Party and their ilk charted had come to fruition in the election of Donald Trump. The unthinkable was now real. The illusion that Americans can see through lies and distortions was now shattered. The nation voted against its own interest and the status-quo by taking a gamble on an unseemly candidate.

This election was a referendum on the failure of the two party American federal system of elections. Both dominant political parties of this country imploded and through their ashes rose Donald Trump - a Republican by label, but an independent at his core. He blew his own singular horn to victory and danced only to his tune to the dismay and horror of many. Personal traits such as decency, respect, kindness, inclusiveness, humility and humanity did not play a role. One's faith, personal taxes, obscene accumulation of wealth by unscrupulous means, which in the past would have decimated a candidate had no impact. Class, Race and Gender were the only primary positions along which votes were casted and decisions made.

So what went wrong? Why did America fracture right in the middle? Even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a narrow margin, why could she not seal the deal? At the heart of it lies the underestimation of Donald Trump, his rhetoric and the people he galvanized. The disconnect between a class of America and what we have come to know as mainstream America, was so deep and wide, that it took an election to awaken to. What the pollsters and pundits failed to see in Donald Trump was him resonating with a kind of America, which to a large extent had been relegated to the fringes by both political parties. They were abandoned by the elite left leaning liberals and the Republican establishment who were seen as belonging to the same corrupt ruling class. With their manufacturing and coal mining jobs evaporated by globalization, they felt they had been forsaken by the system. They had had enough of the smug urban centric media which consisted of college educated sophisticated liberals telling them that their values were out of touch with the times. That they were racist, xenophobic, gun totting, white supremacist "deplorables" in complete contradiction to the core values of the constitution and a changing America.

And so they gravitated to the most elite person they could find in the lineup, the billionaire businessman who would "win" and succeed for them where the ruling class had failed. When Donald Trump held immigrants, Muslims, Mexico, NATO, China, India, bad trade deals, crooked Hillary, Washington insiders, special interest groups, environmentalists as the cause for their misery, they thought they found their reason for despair. They figured only a bully like him could go to Washington, and be tough and get the job done with his no-nonsense, politically incorrect direct approach. He would "make America great again" and restore it back to its glory.  For this they were willing to overlook everything unsavory and brash about Donald Trump. To many this was the appeal. His open misogyny was overlooked, with 40% of his voters being women who detested Hillary for being dishonest. His bankruptcies and sexual indiscretions were ignored. Others felt a woman was not ready to be President of America, just yet. He became the man of the hour to many while he was being made out to be the clown of the hour to others.

Those like me, who lived in a bubble in Brooklyn, New York City, were so far removed from what was happening in the heartland, that we were unquestionably lulled into believing the pollsters and media pundits. The flashes we saw of Donald Trump on TV behaving like a boorish child, gave us the false impression and hope, that people would not take him seriously. The large crowds that were gathering to see him, did not seem that large on TV and in our minds. The lampooning of Donald Trump by late night television and the mainstream press was so scathing and direct, many were assured that America could never elect someone of his caliber, temperament and moral fiber. Others thought it was a left conspiracy to belittle him and undermine his candidacy. When President Obama used his bully pulpit to frame him as a man incapable in temperament and dangerous to trust nuclear codes with, it was seen as a further affirmation of a gang up. And so there was a backlash and the rude awakening on 11/9 brought a cloud of despair on a large part of this nation.

As those who did not support him ponder on the uncertain future and feel heavy in their heart, one must acknowledge all this is only politics. Politics can touch us in our daily lives, but its influence is minimal, unless you let it be.

One aspect I found deeply disturbing in this endless election season, was how degrading the discourse had become. While civility was discarded and obnoxious behavior came spewing through our television screens, what was sacrificed was innocence. As it is, in the times we live in, it is hard for a parent to shield their children from violence in popular culture. Some have lost all perspective in an increasingly pervasive environment. Now the election added a whole new layer of violence that was abhorrent. On one hand children were being subjected to a discourse that was deeply unsettling and parents were allowing it to wash over them, by projecting their rabid stance around dinner table conversations. Objectivity was abandoned as clear lines were drawn painting one candidate as evil and the other not. Children were forced to draw conclusions, based on their parent's preference, without knowing what it meant and why they were doing so.

So when the results came, I was shocked to see how disturbed children were. Children whose understanding of politics cannot and should not be more than knowing the processes of democracy, were deeply invested and emotionally shaken. At my ten year old's ballet class, a little girl, out of the blue showed me a drawing, which said "Donald Trump is a turd". The emotional instability around politics of parents had filtered into their children. When they should be reading fantasy books and watching cartoons, they were being sucked into a realm, which was far beyond their grasp, as the world was being dissected for them in the most basic dichotomy of good and evil.

His detractors are now orchestrating what Donald Trump promised he would do if he lost. Protests across the nation have broken out in mostly urban centers where he is deeply unpopular. In Oregon it has also turned violent. The violence that we witnessed in his rallies now seems to have infected the opposing side. If he follows through with his policies the time to protest will come. Anyone who has followed his rhetoric knows that it is inevitable. But to do it now seems like whining for having lost.

Even though Donald Trump did not win the popular vote, playing by the rules, he won the presidency fair and square. The system was not rigged as he proclaimed, and the institutions of America delivered the result in a free and non-fraudulent election. Now a peaceful transition of power is in progress. While he assembles his team, he must know that the way the system is designed, there are limits to what he can do. If he follows through with his promises, Donald Trump can unleash significant damage. It will be the responsibility of the opposition in power to stop him with all their might. There might also be somethings he might do in the interest of the nation. Like putting term limits on congressmen, limiting the reach of lobbyists and getting better trade deals so more jobs can be created in the US. But if he behaves the way he has on the campaign trail as he governs, he will face global isolation and social unrest like never seen before in this nation.

As Donald Trump prepares to move from his golden abode at Trump Tower to the less ostentatious public housing at the White House, he must meditate on this election. He must acknowledge that almost 50% of the eligible voting population of this country did not take part in this election and a majority of those who did, did not pick him. His contemplation needs to be expressed to all people in more than tweets. Or else his legacy will be as short lived as his mercurial diatribes.

In the end, the President we get, is the President we deserve. It is what it is.