The event will feature eight exciting races, with Zabeel Mile (Group 2) as a main feature
sports2 hours ago
Even though Hillary’s remarks were typically opportunistic and insensitive, they revealed a dark side of the US history. Prominent and promising politicians have always faced a clear and present danger to their lives. In fact, the more popular the politician the more vulnerable he or she is. The arrest of two white supremacists this week for planning to kill Obama at one of his electoral rallies goes to underscore this reality of the US politics.
From Abraham Lincoln to John F Kennedy and from Ronald Reagan to George W Bush, many US presidents have either fallen victim to an assassin’s bullet or came dangerously close to becoming a victim. Of course, all politicians, especially those in power, take a certain degree of risk thanks to the risky nature of their profession. In the US, however, this threat has acquired alarming proportions. Several social and political factors are understood to be behind the phenomenon.
However, the most prominent of them of course is the dangerous gun culture in the country. The world’s most powerful democracy is also one of the most insecure, thanks to the abundance of easily available guns. There are simply too many guns in the US, highest per capita anywhere in the world.
But the threat to Barack Obama, the first African American candidate with a name that sounds like Osama to too many Americans, is rather unique. He is not only the first black man - even if his mother was all-white, all-American - to run for the White House but he is also seen as a Muslim by many ill-informed and semi-literate Americans.
So Obama, who has captured the imagination of a vast majority of Americans and the world with his unique background and uplifting message, faces threat to his life from an extremist fringe because of the same factors. In other words, Obama’s popularity has become his flaw.
This is what happened in the case of another Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy and another more charismatic member of the clan, John F Kennedy. Martin Luther King Jr, the irrepressible civil rights activist and leader of African American community who played a crucial role in the intellectual evolution of Obama, also fell to an assassin’s bullet. Which is why the threat to the Democratic candidate cannot and should not be taken lightly. Obama is leading in all opinion polls and his White House victory appears imminent. This makes him all the more vulnerable to threat from extremists like Ku Klux Klan. The US authorities will need to do everything to protect the first African American candidate. The US must ensure history does not repeat itself.
The event will feature eight exciting races, with Zabeel Mile (Group 2) as a main feature
sports2 hours ago
85 per cent of GPs who had suicidal thoughts blamed it on their working conditions which have deteriorated due to a lack of resources
europe2 hours ago
The president-elect claims to have been vindicated in saying on the campaign trail that 'criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in the country'
americas2 hours ago
The network is already banned from broadcasting from Israel amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government
mena2 hours ago
Maphaka has only bowled 60.5 overs in first class cricket and was writing his school exams a few months ago
cricket3 hours ago
Early-year corrections could make way for fresh rally in gold, analyst says
markets3 hours ago
Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink face array of investigations
business3 hours ago
The sea will be rough to moderate in the Arabian Gulf; moderate to slight in Oman Sea
uae4 hours ago