Mr. President You have to be Tolerant

February 4,2017

By Saeed Qureshi

Mr. president God bless you but the start of your tenure of four years as the president of the United States of America seems to be thorny.  Patently, it appears that you prefer confrontation and accusation game and even using un-parliamentary epithets against your critics. One such indecent comment was against Hilary Clinton in a debate during the election campaign in which you called her a “nasty woman”.

All the eight executive orders which you have signed have become controversial. There have been massive and countrywide agitations in response to your repeal of the Obama Care. Lately the immigration ban on seven Islamic countries has been challenged in court. 

Evidently you focus on non-issues and try to project those as big issues. Your comments and observations mostly conveyed through the Twitter are loaded with rancor and bitterness. For instance, the size of the welcoming crowd on the day of your oath-taking ceremony in comparison to that of president Obama was merely a non- issue. Yet you went whole hog together with your press secretary to denounce the media and press for downsizing the gathering.

You are at war with the local press and you are at war also with the Islamic countries around the world some whom are close allies of USA. The banning of immigrants from seven Islamic states resulted in untold sufferings and unimaginable humanitarian crisis stranded at various American airports and entry points. 

Mercifully A federal judge in Seattle James Robart moved to rescue thousands of stranded individuals and families by placing a nationwide block on your week-old executive order that temporarily barred refugees and nationals from seven Islamic countries from entering the United States. Now you intend to challenge that court order. At the same time, you have denigrated and mocked the honorable judge by remarking, “a "so-called judge" whose "ridiculous" ruling "will be overturned." It shows you have scant respect for the judiciary.

In compliance with the court order, The U.S. State Department has announced to reverse the provisional revocation of visas," A State Department official said in a statement. "Those individuals with visas that were not physically canceled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid."

 To comply with the federal court ruling, the Department of Homeland Security also will stop flagging travelers from certain countries targeted by an executive order. Your telephonic conversation with world leaders including the Australian prime minister and Mexican president lacked the diplomatic flavor and were rather imposing and harsh.

There are initial setbacks to your decisions that your made on the spur of the moment and were implement through the executive orders without realizing whether these are in public or people’s interest or not. For instance, the executive order to repeal or replace Obama Healthcare plan without coming up with an acceptable and better health plan. The repercussions and outrage was colossal. The students who continue their education through the government loans will also suffer as there is going to be slash in those financial programs in force for many years.

In politics and in a democratic country a ruling leader is supposed to be sitting in a glass house. His every action and decision is weighed and processed and judged both by the people and the political counterparts. One doesn’t need to panic and reciprocate by calling names, denunciations and invectives. 

We are all aware you were able to build a business empire by virtue of your intelligence and acumen. In politics, all the more as a president your level of accommodation and tolerance should be very high and extensive. You don’t need to respond to every comment but ought to look the other way.  In politics one has to face odds at every step and ought to overcome those through display of statesmanship and accommodation in accepting or rejecting others’ opinions. 

All the executive orders will have to be endorsed by the House and Senate and till that time you have to sit with your fingers crossed. Even If these orders are converted into law, yet their efficacy and usefulness will have to stand the test of time. The approval and pleasure of the people is of paramount importance that the law itself.

I am skeptical if you would be able to stay in the highest and most prestigious office with the kind of aggressive temperament and meagre level of tolerance and patience that you possess. By lashing out at your opponents and critics invariably is least needed in politics.

If there is spate of agitations and demonstrations against your recent decisions and orders, then there must be something terribly wrong or pernicious with the kind of policies and decisions that you and your administration is making. The indignation and temper that you demonstrate within the United States with your detractors and the world leaders might sidetrack you and it would be difficult to establish a good image of yourself.

The knee jerk reaction and retorts that are habitual with you are not earning you goodwill but a repugnance and aversion that could be subversive for putting up a tolerant and lovable image. That is the most desirable virtue in politics especially and also in human relationship.

It is high time for you to discontinue hurling back pungent, bitter and derisive comments on the attitudes, opinions and perception of others. Such repartee and reaction is counterproductive even for a common man what to speak of the president of the mightiest country.