A bit of politics

Warning! Political content. All opinions are my own

Anyone who does not wish to read my rant on U.S. politics should look away now.

When foreigners (i.e. not U.S. citizens) make comments on Twitter, and occasionally Facebook, in reply to the imbecilic bleating of the outgoing “POTUS” (or “President” as the office used to be known in the days before real language was abandoned), they tend to be assailed by replies such as: “You don’t live here.  You are not entitled to a vote/an opinion.”

Well, I am entitled to an opinion and I will express it publicly.  I am also entitled to a vote, but fortunately that vote is in a country where the outcome of an election is rarely disputed, although occasionally recounted. The loser concedes and government is handed over immediately.  In my country we benefit from the continuity of a civil service organisation rather than a complete change of administration when the government changes.

We don’t get it right either. I believe our Prime Minister is doing the best with a difficult situation, but the repetitive shilly-shallying on policy and his presentation style make him look like a buffoon. But, better the buffoon you know…

As for whether my opinion or my vote counts in the U.S.A., I will experience – suffer? – the consequences of the U.S, election because the new President will directly or indirectly influence the fate of much of the population of my planet.  Therefore, if I cannot vote, I can still, as a voice crying in the wilderness, express my opinion to those who are eligible to vote.

From an outsider’s perspective, it does not seem to matter nowadays whether or not one is entitled to vote in the U.S.A.  What matters is whether you voted the way the currently absentee President wanted you to vote, and how many lawyers can be recruited to prove that your vote was either legal or illegal, without any supporting evidence.

And so, with despair, I anticipate four years of an aged professional struggling to re-unite his country and make progress relating to the pandemic, climate change and world peace, or – God forbid – four more years of bellicose isolationism, rejection of scientific evidence, and moronic untruths spouted onto social media while people die as a result of ignorance and misplaced belief.

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And, with that off my chest, I can now start sorting out my army to invade another unfortunate country – but in miniature and with no actual consequences.