America imploding

The protests that erupted in several American cities following the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections illustrate in no uncertain terms the very reason why Trump won-America is in the grip of a sweeping hypocrisy, and it is eating it from the inside. America's enemies do not need to attack it to bring it to its knees. It is imploding of its own accord.

What a fine example America is displaying before the whole world with its anti-Trump protests. Here is a country that has just elected a new president in a process that defines it as one of the greatest pillars of democracy. The process was peaceful, orderly, and free. Every American, from the candidates to the voters, submitted to the process. That being the case, the natural expectation is for the outcome of the process to be respected by everyone.

But no. Many Americans are now taking to the streets in protest, not in protest against the process, but in protest against Trump. But Trump did not impose his will on the American nation. He himself submitted to the process. Not at any time in the very long process was his candidacy questioned. Sure, as a person he was hated and vilified. But nobody questioned the process.

In fact, leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties made it a point to incessantly exhort all their supporters to get out and vote. And Americans responded by indeed going out and voting. So enthusiastic had been the Americans to vote that millions actually voted early, apparently unable to wait for November 8, the actual voting day.

If America so despised Trump and could not stomach him as their next president, they had their chance through the ballot. They could have rejected him right there in the polls. That was the process to which they submitted themselves freely. Apparently, however, more people chose to vote for Trump. And he became the winner, in a process that America very enthusiastically and aggressively promotes around the world.

What a shame that some Americans cannot take defeat and would now refuse to accept an outcome that ran counter to their expectations. But far worse that being sore losers is the hypocrisy that has now been exposed for the whole world to see. Here is the very same America that loves to send observers to elections in other countries ostensibly to ensure the sanctity of the vote in those countries, an America that apparently cannot come to grips with its own supposedly democratic choices.

It is not the fault of Trump that he was elected president. Those who do not like him can say all they want against him, but that does not detract from the fact that the Trump victory is a product of free choice, exercised in a process called a democratic election. Such a process is the civilized world's way of making sure there is a peaceful handover of power from one democratically elected leader to the next.

What a sorry turn of events, therefore, that what the world used to look up to as the primary example of democratic change could suddenly nosedive into a showcase of unabashed hypocrisy. Now it can be said without the slightest equivocation that many Americans see the usefulness of democracy only when certain things go their way or work to their best interests. But when things do not measure up to their expectations, they damn democracy, and everything it stands for.

For practical purposes, America may remain a welcome economic and military partner to many countries in the world. However, its trustworthiness, in the real sense of the word, had become severely eroded. In the real world, it is difficult to trust someone who says one thing and does another. How can anyone still trust the self-appointed beacon of the democratic world when it cannot accept the results of one of democracy's most hallowed processes?