Good Luck Mr. President. Please Keep America Great!

For the world’s oldest uninterrupted republic, for the nation whose name begins with ‘United’, the change from Obama’s administration to Trump’s rule will be enormous. I watched Obama’s farewell address that was primarily about ‘We’; which talked about respecting others, acting in unity and valuing democracy. I also saw Trump’s inaugural address that was primarily about ‘I’, was packed with denunciations, but may have been more comprehensible to the public. This, to me, is one of his biggest assets. He speaks a language that everyone understands. His simple choice of words, minimal articulation of ideas, use of elementary grammar and ability to engage a large audience is what made him so popular and, in my mind, gave him an edge over other contenders. Just like several other times in the past, his speech was short on facts but several promises were made. This is what makes me anxious, it used to be so easy to identify idiots in the crowd, not so sure anymore. To me, the only way to lessen America is from within – through weak administration, racial discrimination, disparity, male chauvinism, disrespect, animosity and (or) tyranny. We can already see a divide in the nation which is not only limited to White vs African-American, but also Democrat vs Republican, male vs female, native vs immigrant, brown vs grey, broad eyed vs squint eyed, and the list goes on. Does everything have to be about you vs me? Like Obama had once said, “… What free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined.” ‘Joined’ was the key word that some of us seem to have forgotten. It almost feels like the beginning of a Cold War, although then it was about Americanization vs Sovietization. I’d also like to mention an article which stated that immigrants undermine American economy, culture, lifestyle and society. I believe it’s the opposite; I think they enhance it and I’m not saying that because I’m an immigrant, but wouldn’t you agree that the day all immigrants leave America will be the last day we stand at the forefront? America was, is and will prosper as much because of immigrants as it has because of its forefathers and the wonderful American people. The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world; nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, starting with the British who began colonizing America in the 1600’s. Some of us also believe that higher percentage of immigrant population means more crime. But, did you know most studies in America have found lower crime rates among immigrants than among non-immigrants? Several American cities that have the highest crime rates such as St. Louis, Memphis, Cleveland, Birmingham, Buffalo etc. are also the ones with lowest percentage of immigrant population while cities, such as Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, San Hose, San Diego, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago etc., are world class cities and currently sustain a large percentage of immigrant population. And come to think of it, almost every American is a descendant of an immigrant, isn’t it? Coming back to the elections, Trump has definitely proved that it’s not necessarily professional qualifications, public awareness and past experience that can bring you success; it can also be achieved by confidence, assertiveness, self-appraisal, hitting the right nerves and most importantly, gaining attention and popularity. “We’ll build the wall and make Mexico pay for it! Yay!!” How? Who cares? It’s like going back ages in time where we were still trying to learn how to interact meaningfully. Obamacare may be partially unsuccessful but what is the better alternative? If there’s nothing hidden in the tax returns, why not show it and prove everyone wrong? Climate change is not a hoax created by China, are people who dedicated all their lives to protect our living environment worthless? Instances like these make me question the way I look at everything, it almost seems like standing up for the right thing is not always the right thing to do. Is me being a chump, jerk and (or) mentally disturbed dependent on whether or not I like you, and (or) agree with you? You not liking something about your parents, spouse and (or) friends, even a stranger for that matter, does not necessarily mean you hate them, does it? Disagreement does not make the other person evil, or illiterate, or incapable – let’s learn to accept and appreciate; it’s perfectly fine to have opinions. Alec Baldwin’s personification of Trump on SNL frequently talks nonsense though he still seems very cognizant and adept at what he does. Jon Oliver’s Make Donald Drumpf Again doesn’t yield the kind of respect a president deserves, yet he presents numerous true facts. Memes all over news, internet as well as social media are very disrespectful but raise several valid issues. One of the primary duties of a president towards society is not to present bogus information on (including but not limited to) news, debates, interviews as well as social media. When one is the President, every word matters. Can we learn to present the right facts? Can we not imagine things and present them as real; can we present real things? For instance, Meryl Steep is not an over-rated actress, Mexico doesn’t filter out good people from bad before they come to America, women aren’t possessions, great golf course does not equal great power, Japanese do much more than bowing, snowing in New York doesn’t mean there’s no global warming and most important of all, United States is not a business that can file for bankruptcy protection. A president is someone who can command respect not just attention, who speaks content not just words, who respects others not only believes in self, and at the very least, who responds to a question with an answer not a claim. Like they say, why use 30 words when you can use three – especially when those 30 words are unrelated to the issue. For instance, Question: Sir, what in your mind is 2+2? Answer everyone expects: 4 Answer we get: I can’t even tell you how bad this past administration has been in mathematics; they don’t even know the meaning of ‘m’ in math. But we will change all this. We will make everyone a math genius because I know math, math is terrific and I’ll be the greatest mathematician this country has ever seen. #lovepythagoras #demsdisaster #hillarydoesntknowmath #pigswillfly #1000waystoavoidaquestion It’s all just common sense, isn’t it?