Bambi would like to tell her American friends who are reading this post and who may be thrilled today (some others may not be overjoyed, mind you) that she is happy for their happiness. As usual, she wishes their beautiful country all the best!
Just to bring some sarcastic perspective here, she will share a video with them, hoping that they still have their evolutionary sense of humour :).
The day her friends (and herself) will lose their sense of humour Bambi would be seriously worried about not just America or Canada, but also about our whole world, including Lebanon!
Now, this being said, some of these American friends are actually of Lebanese origins, like Dr. Saad in the video below and herself. Thus, perhaps they can all say “Mabrouk” (or Congratulations!) to one of Mr. Trump’s daughters. It seems that she got engaged to her Lebanese-African boyfriend (i.e., a Lebanese expatriate from Lagos and they have been dating since 2018), according to Indian Media:
This is funny because when Bambi was in Beirut at Christmas 2019, a rumour circulated there that this engagement was about to take place. Some even invented a fake invitation to the wedding. People’s joke then was: “Wow! We have a “wasta” (connection or nepotism, in English; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasta) with Mr. Trump now. Maybe he will try harder to save Lebanon“.
The question now is: Do Mr./Dr. Biden have any Lebanese connection to compete with Mr. Trump at that level? That was a joke, in case you did not get it :).
Seriously, Mr. Trump’s adult children are married to people of all sort of background (Jewish-American, Lebanese-African, etc.). Himself he is a child of immigration, just like Ms. Kamala Harris (the new Vice-President). No media has ever put emphasis on this reality. Is it because it did not serve the acceptable narrative?
The reality is the following: Regardless of the President, and whether we admit it or not, the United States of America is one of the most welcoming countries in the world (like us in Canada)!
As Mr. Biden himself wisely said today, his country remains the land of “opportunities“. Think of it, you have children of immigration becoming Presidents, like Mr. Trump, and Vice-Presidents, like Mr. Harris. In how many countries of the world do you see that? Just for your information, Bambi’s own sisters (or herself) could never become Presidents of their own birth country because they are not of the right sectarian (or religious) group for this position.
It is Bambi’s hope that the increasing “racial socialism” we are dangerously observing in our world will never ever take us down the road of silly/unfair quotas like the above. According to Bambi, and based on her second life in the war-torn Lebanon, this would be moving backward in life, not forward (contrary to what we may think out of our excitement for what may look like social justice).
To come back to Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump. both politicians come from different worlds when it comes to their political visions for their country. Isn’t this amazing in and by itself?
This being said, Bambi hopes that our neighbours will truly integrate their opposing views, even if the are going from one political direction to the other. What matters is to keep moving forward as a civilization (regardless of the political choices). Bambi is saying this not just for them, but also for us here in Canada and in the free world (that Lebanon has always looked up to. Mind you, throughout their history, Lebanese people have aspired to be/remain free spirits!).
Perhaps a secret ingredient against civilizational suicide has been mentioned by Mr. Trump himself yesterday in his farewell speech. He used the term “to keep having faith in ourselves“. On that one, even if we are allergic to him, Mr. Trump was right: When a civilization stops believing in itself, you can eventually say good-bye to it. It does not take a genius to say so…
To conclude this post, perhaps this is precisely what keeps Lebanon alive, despite the chaos of the sinking boat and the despair of its people. Indeed, Lebanese citizens think highly of their country and of its myths (e.g., the cedars, the resilient phoenix bird, the east meeting the west, love of freedom, etc.). Above all, and in their own ways, the people of Lebanon love their country (like the Americans, they are patriotic). It is this love (and this pride) that no one can take away from you, despite any sexy ideologies that can lead to civil unrest, if people are not lucid enough (to avoid their own fanaticism, first and foremost, before criticizing the fanaticism of others).
Great video!
Bambi is happy yet not surprised that you have a sense of humour :).