You have to hand it to America

Many of us in the Caribbean have it in for the USA – the interference in the affairs of other countries; the deadly machinations of their agencies such as the CIA and the FBI; their massively corrupt system of lobbying government running in the millions of dollars daily; their opiate problem – the list goes on – but there are times when you simply have to hand it to America.

A prime example is their recent national election.  From a global perspective, to have such a pivotal event, almost a dead heat in some respects, with the world’s most powerful position at stake, and for it to take place so smoothly and so free of conflict is, to say the least, remarkable. In those circumstances, it is almost incomprehensible that on voting day there would be not one protest, not one altercation, no instance of two voters, supporting different candidates, even shoving one another. Even in the long lines when systems malfunctioned, with voters standing in queues for several hours, as in Florida, peace was the order of the day.

And, even more strikingly, after the vote, with the outcome known, and the closeness in the popular vote clear, recrimination (apart from isolated sour grapes Republican comments) was