Published by Malaysiakini, Malay Mail & Sin Chew, images from Malaysiakini.
White Supremacy
The Republicans hated Barack Obama- a white-hot form of anger that is now directed at all Democrats, regardless of race, creed or colour.
What they found particularly objectionable was that they let an outsider take over the reins of power right under their noses, on their watch.
It was, after all, their country, built upon their values and traditions.
America belonged to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants – Wasps – the rest of the population were just tourists.
Though objectionable, it’s not so hard to understand their perspective – every country has their version of it, the elite who feel they own the land and have eminent domain over the running of it.
Donald Trump was thrust into office as a visceral response to their predecessors’ “political correctness”, and now, having tasted the blood of victory, they are going to fight tooth and nail to retain their position at the head of the table.
They know times have changed and the demographics don’t favour it anymore in a fair fight, which is why they have the other three supporting legs.
Big Business
It’s often thought that big business is the tail that wags the government.
This is wrong. Big business is the dog; the government is the tail.
It’s only meant to look like it’s the other way round so that “democracy” is believable.
Again, this is not a problem unique to America. The entire planet is unduly influenced by a handful of powerful people and institutions, which outlast leaders, administrations, and nation-states themselves.
What big businesses love about Trump is his willingness to let them have the run of the house without even putting up appearances.
Usually, they have to follow some basic rules – not peeing on the rug or chewing the slippers – but any notion of decorum has been snuffed out in the current presidency.
Every cabinet secretary under Trump has been perfectly cast to ensure that his or her department is made completely ineffective.
Any one such official would have stood out like a sore thumb, but it’s a brilliant strategy when you do it en masse with every one of them.
With the open support of big business, the Presidency of the United States will be Trump’s best business venture yet – much more lucrative than casinos, hotels, universities and steaks.
Why cheat at one hand when you can fix the whole card game.
Evangelicals
For anyone who doesn’t understand American evangelicals, it’s about one thing: the end of times.
The sole obsession of the Bible Belt with Israel is that the rapture is prophesied to destroy all unbelievers in the ancient land of Jesus, while simultaneously raising all true Christians to salvation.
This simple but absolute belief is the underlying tenet of all American born-again Christians.
The Jews have happily played along, never mind that it does not end well for them.
Make hay while the sun shines, is their motto, we’ll worry about the rest later.
More than any other modern-era American leader, Trump has followed the apocalyptic playbook to the T, restoring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and vanquishing their sworn enemies.
While Trump wasn’t the author of Islamophobia- the Saudis have to take equal blame for that – he certainly has come along at the right place and the right time, just when the Europeans, the Indians, the Chinese and it seems everyone else has had about as much as they can take of so-called “Islamic Extremism”, particularly the Wahhabism that the Saudis have specialised in peddling to poorer Muslim nations.
The fear of this insidious ideology has been successfully exploited by Trump and other nationalists all over the world, and become a rallying cry for them at the polls.
Vote Rigging
To call the American electoral system gerrymandered would be a gross understatement.
The red states in the middle have an overwhelmingly disproportionate representation in America’s “democracy”, most notably in the legislative branch.
South Dakota, with 500,000 residents, sends the same number of senators (2) to Congress as 40 million Californians.
The electoral college is the epitome of convoluted political acrobatics that assures an all or nothing assignment of the entire vote bank from the thinnest sliver of margins (just ask Hillary about Wisconsin in 2016).
It’s amusing to watch Republicans tying themselves into knots justifying the unjustifiable when confronted with common sense alternatives such as a simple majority, but what’s not funny is that this system ensures that Trump and the Republican Party will win election after election despite losing the popular vote time after time.
And, the longer they remain in power the more they are going to nudge the goalposts in their favour, further skewing the mandate of the voters away from their desired representation.
Even this is too much for Trump, he’s just as soon turn it into a dictatorship if he had his way.
In his re-election rallies, the best selling T-shirts have him winning 2020, then Ivanka winning 2024 and 2028, Jared winning 2032 and 2036 and so on and so forth.
So buckle up, folks, Trump isn’t going anywhere. Even if he did lose – which he won’t – he’d just decry it as “fake news” anyway. Sad!
Dr. Rais Hussin is President & CEO of EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
刊登在：星洲网 (Sin Chew).
1. 白人至上
共和党人讨厌奥巴马──如今这股白热化的怒气，已不分种族、信仰或肤色，针对在所有民主党人身上。他们认为最让令人反感的是，在这个根据他们价值观和传统建立的国家，自己竟然眼睁睁看着一名局外人掌权。他们认为，美国是属于白人盎格鲁-撒克逊新教徒（WASPS）的，其他人仅是过客。
虽然令人反感，但并不难理解他们的观点──每个国家都有各自的版本，精英认为他们拥有该片土地，在运作上有绝对权力。特朗普被推上台是反映了他们先贤的“政治正确”，如今在尝到胜利的甜头后，他们将不惜一切争取保留坐在餐桌首位上。
他们知道时代已改变，在公平竞争下人口结构已不再有利于他们，因此他们还需要另外3大支柱。
2.大企业
很多人以为大企业可以（本末倒置）号令政府，这是错误的。大企业是狗，政府是尾巴。它只是要看起来相反，这样才能使“民主”可信。
这不是美国独有的问题。整个地球被少数有权势的人和机构过度影响，甚至超越了他们的领袖、政府和国家。大企业喜欢特朗普，是因为后者愿意让他们任意妄为。一般他们要遵守一些基本规矩，例如（狗）不在地毯上撒尿或咬拖鞋，但在这任总统领导下，任何礼节观念都没了。
在特朗普领导下，每名内阁部长都已被完美铸造，以确保他或她的部门完全无效率。任何一名类似的官员会显得很突出，但如果你和其他人集体一样做，就会变成是超棒的策略。在大企业的公开支持下，美国总统将成为特朗普迄今为止，做得最好的企业，比赌场、酒店、大学和牛排事业更有利可图。当您可以掌握整个纸牌游戏时，为何要作弊。
3.福音派
任何不了解美国福音派的人，它代表一件事：时代的终结。圣经链接以色列，唯一目标是预言提及要毁掉所有在古时代耶稣土地上的非信徒，与此同时兴起真正的基督徒以得救恩。这简单但绝对的信念，是所有美国重生基督徒的基本信条。以色列人快乐地遵守，结局不好没关系。趁热打铁是他们的座右铭，其他的我们之后再来忧虑。
比起其他现代的美国领袖，特朗普紧紧地跟随世界末日剧本，重设耶路撒冷为以色列首都，及征服他们的死敌。
虽然特朗普不是伊斯兰恐惧症的作者，沙地阿拉伯人也要负上责任，但他在正确的地方和时间点上出现，正当欧洲人、印度人、中国人和其他人都能接受所谓“伊斯兰极端主义”一词时，特别是在沙地阿拉伯人专门向比较贫穷的穆斯林国家，传扬瓦哈比主义（Wahhabism极端保守教义）。
特朗普和世界各地的民族主义者，成功利用对这种阴险意识形态的恐惧，在选举中为他们摇旗呐喊。
4.操纵选票
称美国选举制度为杰利蝾螈（选区不公正划分）已是保守说法，在美国“民主”中，中部的共和党州属有压倒性不符比例的代表，特别是在立法方面。人口仅有50万人的南达科他州，和4000万名加州人，同样选出2名参议员去参议院。
选举人团（间接选举）是令人费解的政治杂技缩影，它确保了赢者全拿（或一票都没）的选票模式，以致微幅胜选（请向希拉里询问2016年的威斯康星州）。这样的制度让特朗普和共和党一次又一次地，在输了普选票后，仍赢得选举。
而且，他们执政时间越长，他们越会改成有利他们的规则，进一步歪曲和偏离了选民想要看到的代表。
这对特朗普来说，仍是太多了，如果他有办法，他会尽快将其变成独裁统治。在他竞选连任的集会上，最畅销的T恤是他赢得2020大选，之后伊万卡（特朗普女儿）2024年胜选，再来是库什纳（特朗普女婿）赢得2032年及2036年及等等等等。
准备好吧，众人，特朗普还会在。就算他输了──实际上他不会，他也只会说是“假新闻”。伤感。
莱斯福贤是EMIR Research的总裁兼首席执行官，EMIR Research是一个独立的智囊团，专注于根据严格的研究提出战略政策建议。
