Just Charly with CharlyBoy
Twitter: @Areafada1
The traditional and social media have been agog with the latest Donald Trump declaration of banning Muslims from entering America. For the past few days I have remained fixed on CNN watching how the American media has become so bemused with Trump’s soaring position at the polls, regardless of his very wild and unpresidential statements. The fixation on a candidate who trades yabis for substance has become awesome. There seem to be this love-hate relationship with the American media. America for show.
On the 7th of December 2015 the front runner of the Republican Party, Donald Trump advocated for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”
Since then Trump has been widely and correctly criticised for this; accused of wanting to reproduce discriminatory policies like those of pre-war Europe, when Jews were forcibly registered. But looking at the timeline of events since the Paris attacks, and indeed in the months before them, it becomes clear that Trump isn’t actually the problem here. It has become obvious that Trump is merely indulging a sentiment that was already widespread, especially after the Paris/California shootings.
The fact that Trump has bluntly refused to stand down on his declaration about Muslims which is getting widespread outrage shows how accustomed Americans have become to out-in-the-open anti-Muslim prejudice in the country. Can’t say I blame them that much.
America’s climate of anti-Muslim hatred and fear is on the high rise. A form of bigotry known as Islamophobia is rampaging out of control. And it has very real and legitimately scary implications for the millions of Americans who follow Islam.
The day after Trump’s I no send you comments, a makeshift militia, wearing military-style camo, some of them masked, showed up outside an Islamic centre in Irving, Texas, carrying assault rifles and announcing they had come to stop the “Islamization of America.” Where is all of this heading to, one wonders. It’s not that Trump is the cause of such strong anti-Muslim hatred but rather that his comments – widely believed and legitimately popular among a slice of Americans – are the leading edge of an Islamophobic movement that may turn violent. It may no longer be police shooting innocent black, but average Americans hunting and killing Muslims.
The threat of violence often has the same theatrical point as violence itself. To terrify and intimidate, to inflict psychological suffering on the targeted group in the form of fear and alienation, to force that targeted group to live a little bit less in the open and more in the shadows.
So my questions are these: How long will Donald Trump be allowed to fan this Islamophobic messages which are definitely causing the GOPs sleepless nights? Is he going to be the favoured candidate for the republicans? A good meal for Hilary Clinton if you ask me. How can the excesses of Trump be cut down? For months, Trump has defied the laws of political correctness and gravity by maintaining his lead despite a never-ending string of mis-yarns and controversies. I strongly doubt if his improbable campaign can go the distance
Yesoooo, America may be down for the show. After all, sleazy shows like Jerry Springer was a hit. But it is time for Americans to restore their political reputation by demonstrating the ability of the political process to deflate the bubble of a candidate so high on self-importance and so low on policy-specifics. Donald is definitely in for the show, the new Reality show. Maybe very soon, republicans will have this to say. YOU ARE FIRED.
- Visit Talk Junction with Charly and Koko 08135518103 and Charlyboy for more
