I HAVE been glued to the American election for the last number of months. Our TV flicks between CNN and Fox News so much so that I noticed my daughter singing along with the Fox News jingle the other day.
The American election, even though it is playing out half way around the world, has raised a fair few issues in the States that have have sent strong ripples across the pond to us.
It's not like kids here in Northern Ireland are not paying attention. Trump's 'locker room talk' antics have been discussed at length in school playgrounds up and down the country. Kids quote him, laugh at him, mock his mannerisms. There are millions of Trump-themed memes, photos and dubbed videos shared among friends for laughs.
If the sheer volume of mini Donald Trumps walking around on Halloween night in Derry is anything to go by, the showman's popularity among young Irish people is at an all time high. I'd like to think that kids here see him more as a bastion of ridiculousness rather than an idol, when they mock his wispy hair, idiotic statements and brash mannerisms.
The American election shone a light on the very ugly side of politics. Trump's highly disrespectful misogynistic, racist, discriminative and idiotic comments have been pumping into living rooms, not just in America, but across the world as people get caught up in the biggest show in town. Trump has spent his life playing up to the media, hitting the headlines. And now he has had the biggest platform to spew his sometimes vitriolic, often bizarre thoughts all over the world.
Last month, after Trump's highly disrespectful comments about women were played out in the media in gruesome detail, First Lady Michelle Obama questioned what this new, brash brand of politics was doing to our kids.
“What message are our little girls hearing about who they should look like, how they should act?” she asked. “What lessons are they learning about their value as professionals, as human beings, about their dreams and aspirations? And how is this affecting men and boys in this country?”
The first lady’s questions reflect the sheer ugliness of this presidential race. Four years and eight years ago, here in the north we might not have given two hoots who was running for US president or indeed who eventually won. It was America's problem, not ours.
But Trump's super-sized media personality has ensured that every set of eyes in the World, young and old, are firmly glued to our televisions for every claim of sexual assault, every insult to women, every racist remark, every deeply divisive comment, every joke about people with disabilities, every vicious and personal attack on his female opponent, media personalities, fellow runners and people who protest at his rallies.
And those eyes, young and old, see thousands of people clapping and cheering for Trump and his ideals, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his name and claims to make America great again and they see journalists and business leaders from all over the world championing this dangerous buffoon.
And what does it teach them? Well, a lot of things, but mostly that it's perfectly OK to say and do whatever the hell you want when the mood takes you, regardless of who it might hurt. If you have money you'll certainly get away with it.
Tonight and tomorrow we will all be glued to the TV to see who the new commander and chief will be, the person with their finger on the button, the leader who could take us into new wars, drag us into another recession or make the world great again. Because the ripples of heavy impacts in America don't take long to reach our shores.
My younger brother and his wife live in Memphis and, since he was made an American citizen three months ago, he can vote. I wouldn't have the audacity to ask, but since he was raised in the same house as myself, by a father who was a founding member of the civil rights movement, I would hazard a guess he won't vote for the perma-tanned, reality star with the filthy mouth, the bad manners and the idiotic ideas.
Tomorrow we will know if Love Trumps Hate. Until then we can just watch and wait, and maybe stock the Doomsday bunker with tinned food and bottled water.
