THE UNITED STATES ELECTIONS

I must say, right from the start, that I have a great respect for the United States of America and for its people.

Whilst I deplore their fascination with guns, there are more legally-owned firearms in the USA than there are inhabitants, they are on the whole a kind, generous and warm-hearted people. OK so they can be somewhat naïve at times, or perhaps it's more a case that we from older countries are a little too cynical, but they still have my admiration, except perhaps in that aspect of their Constitution, the Presidential Elections.

Because of the arcane system of each state voting for a candidate, and on the basis of the result sending a delegation to the Electoral College, who will then cast the State's vote for President, it is quite possible for more people to vote for candidate A only for candidate B to be elected President.

In 2000 George W Bush received less votes that did Al Gore, but was elected President by the Electoral College. The same happened in 2016 when Donald Trump polled 2.8 million votes less than did Hillary Clinton, but still became President.

Apart from the bizarre electoral system it is a source of amazement to me how a convicted criminal such as Donald Trump can even be considered for President, let alone being elected as one.

Not only as he been convicted of four felony crimes of falsifying his business records he is accused, rightly so in my opinion, of illegally conspiring, with such as the odious one-time mayor of  New York Rudy Giuliani, to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and encouraging, supporting and instigating an armed insurrection against the Government of the United States with the intent, amongst other crimes, to murder the then sitting Vice President.

Dress in up however you like, make as many excuses as you can, in any other civilised country of the world this would be considered as treason, and in some parts of the world would result in a death sentence - but with Trump?

Not only has he managed to evade prosecution for the last four years if he is ever in danger of being called to account he can now, as President, simply pardon himself!

He is on record has describing those already convicted for taking part in the January insurrection as " martyrs " and once in the White House will likely pardon those as well, but his actions do not stop there. He has, on national television, stated that he considers those Senators who conducted the Senate investigation into the insurrection should go to jail.

Not that they committed any crime, not that any court with any pretence of judicial merit would convict them, they have acted against Donald J Trump and as such should be punished by imprisonment.

How has a country based on democracy, freedom, and in Lincoln's words "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" sunk so low as to consider this criminal traitor fit to stand in the shoes of Lincoln, FDR and those presidents who truly did strive to 'make America great'.

To once again quote from Lincoln and his speech of  the 16th of June 1858 "A house divided upon itself cannot stand" and I pray that in time America will come to its senses and elect a president who will unite the country and re-establish those values it once held dear.