By PERCY OWAIYE
ONE thing that most Americans and indeed analysts all over the world are too civilized to admit is that the bastion of democracy is too steeped in its prejudices to elect a woman as president. To prove this point, they tore down everything they taught the world. We always believed that family and good conduct was an irreducible minimum for public office in the so-called God’s own country. Well, not anymore.
President-elect, Donald Trump reportedly groped women and gloated about it in the open, but that did not matter. We thought that no one could aspire to public office, least of all, President, who could be shown not to be a good citizen. America, to that extent, swore by the tax. And the fear of the taxman was supposed to be the beginning of wisdom. Now, not anymore. A self-confessed President-elect Trump was “smart” enough not to pay his taxes, and Americans could not be bothered.
Traditionally, the presidential debates in America are more than oratory and sophistry. They are also a peep into the issues in the elections and how well the candidates would handle them, if elected. So, if you win the debates, you most probably win the election too. Not this time. Trump lost all three debates and still went on to trounce Hillary in the main election. Not to talk of the oracular and until now, scientific polls. You could not lead in them consistently in the run up to the election day, and still connive to lose it. But that was exactly the fate that befell Hillary.
So what went wrong with Hillary? Analysts, pundits, historians and pollsters are battling to find answers. But they need not bother: Americans in their bigotry, sexism, chauvinism have spoken: Anything, but Hillary. Anything, but a woman. What a shame! And with that out through the window, goes everything we had thought we knew about democracy: Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
And you would think that that should ordinarily have included women. But not quite! What about the equal opportunity mantra that until now we held as sacrosanct? Here we are. It has all but blown up in our faces. And in apparent volte-face, thousands have taken to the streets in belated protestations. Wonder if they ever heard of the genie and the bottle? The game is up, folks.
Trump would be sworn in on January 20, 2017. And from then, it is: To Your Tents O Israel! And while we are at it, a dirge for America would seem appropriate. And it is a paraphrase of the beautiful one David sang for his bosom friend Jonathan and his longtime foe, Saul upon learning of their sudden death in battle: The glory of America is slain upon the High Places. How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Washington And publish it not in Moscow! Lest, the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. And bla. bla. bla.
We may not now fathom what has hit America in the last few days or weeks, but what is certain is that an occurrence of the significance of an Armageddon has just taken place. You need spiritual eyes to perceive this one.
There was a Prophet called by God—I don’t mean these ones called by Man or Greed– who lived on this earth many years ago. Precisely, between 1909 and 1965. His name was William Marrion Branham.
And if you are a prophet, called by God, you got to be correct 100 per cent of the times—not 99 per cent. That is the precise measure.
Brother Bill, as the prophet was popularly known, said in one of his end-time prophecies that the world should “Watch Russia”. And those who were listening to him at the time were taken aback. Others were inclined to mock him because it sounded incredulous.
At the time, no nation by the name “Russia” existed. They took pity on him on account of his limited education and corrected him that maybe he meant, USSR. Russia was part of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics then. But he insisted, and said:”Watch Russia.” And that has been recorded in his book of prophecies, even to this day.
And here we are. Does anyone want to understand what has just happened in America by human eyes? Or by human understanding only? You bet that would be the day! It is not just the Democratic party that has been vanquished; it is the sun setting on the American century! But it takes time and a deeper understanding for all of that to sink in.
Now, the rump of the Democratic party has been left scampering.
It is left to wonder what has hit it and the way forward. It is the way of politicians. But in all that you can be sure they have learnt their lesson: They won’t be presenting a woman now or any time in the near future for the office of the president. That one lesson, at least, is clear for all to see.
The rest is buried in the belly of time. And by the time of its fullness, we shall all see that there was more than met the eye. In the meantime, welcome Russia; the new superpower—or if you like, undertaker, of the world!
Owaiye writes from Lagos