Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Riyadh Metro to begin partial operations next Wednesday: Report    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Downing Street indicates Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters UK    London's Gatwick airport reopens terminal after bomb scare evacuation    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Trampling Trump
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 01 - 2016

second clip is king. Candidates for high office in the US often have teams of writers working away constantly to craft a memorable one-liner which will grab the news headlines and focus public attention on them.
By all accounts Donald Trump has no speechwriters. He is supplied with no clever quips to go with his often rambling speeches. Yet ever since he announced his candidacy, Trump has consistently outperformed his Republican Party opponents, not least in terms of headline-making pronouncements.
He has launched personal insults directly at women and a disabled reporter and branded Mexicans as thieves and rapists. And his latest outrageous sound bite is his plan to exclude all Muslims from traveling to the US "until we find out what the hell is going on".
That Islamophobic call, which contains the unspoken idea that American Muslims and students and workers already in the US should also be corralled, if not actually deported, is now the main theme in Trump's first TV campaign advertisement.
It is remarkable that he has got this far in the campaign and in the opinion polls without, until now, spending a dime on prime-time TV slots. The man originally dismissed by the political establishment as a loudmouthed, ignorant maverick has demonstrated considerable cunning. His disgusting call to discriminate against Muslims was justified by a reference to the Second World War internment of all Americans of Japanese origin. Amazingly, none of his Republican opponents was prepared to admit that this vicious reaction 75 years ago to the horror of the Pearl Harbor attack was both shameful and immoral.
They have been wrong-footed by a rival trumpeting like a raging bull elephant, trampling through all the mealy-mouthed political conventions that have bored and disenchanted a significant section of the Republican electorate. They might very well like to follow Trump's racist lead and win back some of his voters, but they are afraid. Established US politicians keep their real feelings to themselves while peddling bland promises and assurances.
There is, however, one thing which all Trump's rivals agree with him on and that is visceral resistance to President Obama's mild attempt to tighten up conditions that need to be fulfilled before someone in the US can buy a gun. The daily slaughter from legally held weapons is not seen as unacceptable to Republicans. They mimic the morally vacuous protest of the powerful National Rifle Association which is that it is not the gun that is responsible for killing someone but the person holding it.
Interestingly, Trump's rivals have made a far bigger fuss than he about Obama's timorous plans for changes in US gun laws. In Trump's eyes Obama is already politically dead. He does nothing to discourage his supporters' conviction that America's first black president was not in fact born in the US and is a secret Muslim.
It remains very hard to believe that this political monster has a very good chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination and harder still to think that he could win the White House in November. Trump represents the dark side of America, the ignorant, blundering section of the electorate that once cheered George W Bush, arguably one of the country's least intelligent presidents. Bush became an embarrassment. President Donald Trump would be that and more - he would also be a tragedy.


Clic here to read the story from its source.