Daily Times

A lot has been said about what is ahead once Mr. Trump takes the oath of office. There are all sorts of speculations, about what he will do and so on and so forth. The so called liberal media here in the US, is making every effort to cast all kinds of doubts and confusion, so people are in the state of anxiety. If he is an unconventional person, who has acted quite brazenly, all his life, why in the world would he change? Quite frankly, right from his decision to run, till this day, the liberal media has been shadowing him, watching his every move and hoping for him to stumble, so it can berate himwith a “told you so.”

I am a registered Democrat and have never ever voted for a Republican, for over two decades, but this witch hunt against Trump is distasteful, to say the least. When I meet people, and hear that Republican Party will not tolerate Trump and his antics. The Republican Party may facilitate his impeachment, within the first year and have Vice President Elect Pence, takeover. I smile at such sweeping statements. My very simplistic observation is that people form an opinion, based on what they see and hear at face value. The underlying premise behind such an opinion is, being an outsider and being firm and hot headed, Mr. Trump is bound to make mistakes. Some of those mistakes would cost him, his Presidency and the show would be over.

I am amazed at such reasoning. It comes from the folks, who specialize in nothing but American Politics. These are the same people, who dismissed him as a candidate and decided the outcome of the US Elections perhaps in the Summer of last year. The reason why I ignore such pundits and experts, because their analyses is reflective of their personal wishes. These experts have to put themselves in the position of the President Elect and think from his vantage point. If people think, that Mr. Trump and his aides would have not focused on this challenge, then they are mistaken.

The other aspect which is constantly played through news items, tweets, skits and discussions, is his ignorance about the way, Washington operates. So one way objectively say, that these people are afraid of a presumed radical change. The radical change and the fear mongering that is played around it, may just be all useless and unnecessary as a President does not have the absolute power in the American government.

On the international front, people paint all kinds of gloomy and dreadful scenarios that one has to wonder, why so much energy is being wasted on a hypothetical apocalypse. The fear mongers are concerned with the softening towards Russia and what drastic steps could a Putin-Trump friendship may bring to the rest of the world. Again it is an assumption, that it is meant to keep the other giant, China in check.

The thing that truly bothers me as a US citizen is the story about the alleged Russian hacking and the influencing of the outcome of the recent US elections. This happens to be the country of pioneers, when it comes to technology and it was violated by people all the way from Russia. President Obama ordered a probe and one has to wonder, why all of this and appropriate security measures were not in place by the US government. The responsibility ultimately is shifted towards the committee, but this incident teaches a totally new lesson to everyone. Going forward, not only the candidates must have physical security but their respective campaigns must be protected in the cyberspace as well.

Back home, there are all kinds of speculations, about how former President Zardari was able to make his visit to the US coincide with the forthcoming Presidential inauguration. The social media is abuzz with the meetings of President Zardari with the US lawmakers. What concessions can a former President extract, it is debatable. Similarly, even if Mr. Zardari makes it to the ceremony as being speculated, what more can he gain, besides a meet and greet and a handshake or a photograph. Unless it is all meant for the consumption of Pakistani masses. A sort of a snub to the ruling party, that sent an emissary, following the infamous Trump-Nawaz, terrific chat. The poor dignitary was unable to get an invitation card for the ceremony, despite the prompt sojourn to the US.

There is a thick fog of anxiety, shock and fear. All of these elements, perhaps not in the same order. In my humble opinion, when people become the victims of their analysis paralysis, things tend to go in a totally different direction. I am not an expert, but very earnestly feel that a lot of angst is misplaced. For a registered Democrat, I am optimistic that things ahead will not be as chaotic as people may think. At this juncture, I am reminded of the campaign slogans of the outgoing President, Hope and Change. Come to think of it, the incoming one has to disseminate both of these positively to surprise his worst detractors. Welcome to the White House, President Trump.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar