The big issue: So help me God

The big issue: So help me God

United States Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa, on Jan 30, 2016. (Reuters photo)
United States Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa, on Jan 30, 2016. (Reuters photo)

Donald Trump has not mentioned “Thailand” since he began his campaign to become the Republican Party candidate for United States president last June. That's the good news. No, really, that's good news.

That's because pretty well everything he has mentioned in the past seven months and 14 days is in for, not just a rough time but singular treatment of the kind never seen in America and seldom seen outside an outright dictatorship.

Mr Trump's first 100 days as US president could make Section 44 look benign. People in the deep South may marvel, stop complaining about Lord Voldemort's infinitely extending Emergency Rule and turn grateful that they don't have Mr Trump declaring special laws for special people like them.

We realise here at the plush world headquarters of the Bangkok Post Sunday you may not have been following the US presidential race very closely. With more than a little help from Paul Mero of the fair, if not objective people-rating, Leadership Project for America, we would like to bring you up to date on the colourful and mendacious phenomenon called Donald Trump. He might, yes it’s possible he could, be the next president of the United States - elected next Nov 8 and taking office next Jan 20.

“The First 100 Days” is a meme of US politics. On the 100th day of the presidency - next April 30 - the media worldwide will tally achievements and failures of the first 100 days. Bangkok Post Sunday will weigh in on May 1. Based on Mr Trump’s speeches and interviews, here is what we will see.

Mr Mero mischievously predicts President Trump will declare a National Losers Day. The Donald has pointed to many individuals in the past year and labelled them “loser” in the same manner he used to point to people and tell them, “You’re fired”.

Recognised on the new US Loser Day will be, among others, singer Cher, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and, of course, the Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, the reason Mr Trump boycotted last week’s Republican Party debate.

President Trump intends to take action next January that would greatly affect the country.

One of the first actions would be an executive order slapping a 45% excise tax on every Chinese import. Mr Trump firmly believes, like many of his supporters, that those darned Chinese steal jobs from hard-working Americans, so they should have to pay back some of that.

His other large policy that would affect Thais is even more important to him than punishing China for its success. That is punishing Muslims.

Mr Trump is (apparently) serious about placing a ban on all Muslims except US citizens. Presumably he’ll get to them later. He justifies this with a convoluted message that goes: Most terrorists are Muslims; the United States doesn’t want terrorists; ban all Muslim tourists, business people, scholars and immigrants “until we figure out what is going on” about Muslim terrorists.

By the way, this is true. Ms Huffington's (the loser) popular Huffingtonpost.com now adds this to every story or commentary on Mr Trump: “Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims - 1.6 billion members of an entire religion - from entering the US.”

(The footnote is untrue. Mr Trump, so far as we know, is not a racist, just as Islam is not a race.)

Can he ban Muslims? Well, technically. Like most of his supporters and many writers of letters to PostBag, Mr Trump thinks they can pick Muslims out of a crowd at 30 paces. Rub a lamp.

Plenty of Arabs aren’t Muslim. Oh, and plenty of Muslims aren’t Arabs, like almost all. The top 10 countries in Muslim population aren’t Arab. Many Muslims, including US citizens, are as pale, Caucasian and “European” looking as, well, Donald Trump.

But President Trump will be unmoved by facts, put dissenters on his growing List of Losers and issue orders for federal surveillance of all US citizens who are Muslim, even though no one has any idea who most of them are.

The edict by President Trump on Jan 21, 2017, to ban Muslim foreigners from Fortress America will be a shambles on Jan 22, 2017. It will be a challenge to some Muslims to lie about the religion, get a visa, land in the US and laugh. Publicly. It will be a black blot on America by wonderful people from Thailand and a couple of hundred other countries and territories who will turn from admiring the US to actively hating it. Talk about creating terrorists.

Then, President Trump will really get going.

He intends to order the deportation of all undocumented and illegal immigrants, no exceptions, no mercy - all 11 million (estimated).

President Trump, between Jan 20 and April 30, 2017, will start to build a high wall across the Mexican border. He will authorise US forces overseas to track and kill the family members of Islamic State members and soldiers. And much, much more.

The oath of office taken by US presidents-elect is only 35 words, but almost all, including incumbent president Barack Obama, add the four words, “So help me God”. If it’s President Trump who is sworn in next January, he won’t be the only one uttering that phrase.

In Thailand, with luck, it will be, “Thank God he didn’t notice us”.

Alan Dawson

Online Reporter / Sub-Editor

A Canadian by birth. Former Saigon's UPI bureau chief. Drafted into the American Armed Forces. He has survived eleven wars and innumerable coups. A walking encyclopedia of knowledge.

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