City Notes

Everyone seems to have decided that Hillary Clinton is going to be elected the next US President. That is not the certainty it seems. For a start, the Democrats are coming off two presidential terms in office, which means that Hillary could win the Democratic nomination, but get beaten, giving the White House to the Republicans.
One factor going against Hillary Clinton is her age. I hate to say that about a lady, but if elected she would take office in January 2017, 24 years after her husband did when she would be 69. The only person older than her to have assumed office was Ronald Reagan, who was also 69. However, while she would turn 70 in November 2017, Reagan was only 17 days short of his 70th birthday when he took over. And being that old at the beginning of his term, it meant that he was the oldest holder of the office, being no less than 17 days short of 78 when he left office.
However, he probably didn’t have the same difficulty admitting to his age as Hillary would have. She could point out that her public service contributions, like being the wife of an Arkansas Governor and a US President, a US Senator and a US Secretary of State, would lead to her being of a certain age, but the first admission, that she was over 35, the minimum age necessary to become President, might be painful enough, let alone admitting that she might be too old to hold the office. There’s got to be something wrong with a system where women have got to reveal their age.
I am reminded of the fellow who refused to be older than 18. He said that his mother refused to admit to 40, and someone had to keep up appearances. True, the age of eldest children can be a trial to some.
Still, if Hillary Clinton does become the first woman to become President, will it really change things? Did the Obama Presidency does as much for African-Americans as was expected when he was elected?` It did lead to a lot of debate, but actually, a lot of white cops seemed to think that it was open season on black males. Grand juries seemed to agree with them.
So if Hillary Clinton is elected, will there be cases in the USA like the one in Calais, where a little girl was raped and murdered by a Polish migrant. Calais is best remembered as the last town in France in British possession. It’s funny that the Polish migrant has not been revealed as a Muslim, and thus the case one of terrorism. Another case that isn’t terrorism is that of the four British navy sailors who assaulted a girl in Nova Scotiaˏ̗Canada.
But the murder of four relatives, followed by suicide, in Yuma, Arizona, could be ascribed to terrorism. Though both victims and filler were Americans running a limousine business, their origin lay in Morocco, and so they had to be terrorists. Remember, Arizona is the state where someone offed a Sikh after 9/11, because he thought he was also a Muslim. Muslim, Sikh, whatever… All are dirty dagoes. And deserve only one fate at the hands of good white American boys.
Meanwhile, closer home, Imran Khan expressed confidence in the Judicial Commission. I’m sure the Commission must be relieved. But I hope not much, because Imran has an unfortunate record of going back on his word. Unless the Commission does what the PTI expects from it, Imran may well turn on it. Also, he did not go through all the vicissitudes of the sit-in merely to have people ask him for something as mundane as evidence. They should simply accept his say-so that the elections were rigged, and instead of having a fresh election, they should simply declare that Mian Nawaz Sharif is unseated, and that Imran Khan is the new Prime Minister. If they can’t do that little thing, they should not be surprised if they are accused by Imran of being overawed by Nawaz.
And after Zakiu Rehman Lakkhvi was released on bail last week, there was an extension of bail for MQM supremo Altaf Hussain, who also answered questions about money laundering. Now money laundering is a rather recondite charge. If they had had him for buffalo theft, then Imran would probably have felt more secure.
Imran is having a heavy time. There’s the by-election in Karachi, then the Judicial Commission. No wonder the cricket team is losing, and that too to Bangladesh. Not the most auspicious of starts for the new captain. The solution to Pakistan’s problems is to make Imran Prime Minister. And to Pakistan cricket’s problems to make him captain. No matter he’s 61. Look, if we could play Misbah when he admitted to being 40, why not Imran? He should get along splendidly with Hillary Clinton, for cricketers are as skittish about their age as any woman.