That was America’s choice last Tuesday. We elected a dictator, with a majority of the popular vote, apparently, certainly within the rules of the system. Despite all the lies about a broken election system, I believe elections have been overall free and fair in America since implementation of the voting rights act in the 1960s. I don’t expect that will continue.
Donald Trump and his MAGA-Republican party will take power in what will be, at least from the Democrat side, a peaceful transfer of power in January. In office he will be above the law, with control of the Senate, the Supreme Court, and likely the House. The Court has already ruled that he is above the law as President, unless impeached and convicted in the House and the Senate. With loyal followers in both, he is immune to any restraint. If part of his own party in House or Senate were to turn, he could have them jailed or lynched.
He has made it clear that he intends to use his power to reshape American government. He will use the Justice Department, and potentially the US Military to punish anyone he considers an enemy of the state. And he is the state. His first term was constrained by underlings with loyalty to the US Constitution. This time, loyalty will be to Donald Trump. The Executive Branch will be purged, starting at the top with appointees and Senior Executive Function, but at least attempting to reclassify large swaths of the people who actually make government work, reclassifying non-political civil servants as “Schedule F” employees, so they can be fired and replaced by loyalists. That’s for Agencies that aren’t wholesale gutted or defunded.
I take that personally as someone whose career was in government. Government bureaucracy is seldom efficient, but it slowly grinds on and functions. It the stable skeleton of democracy. Making the government out to be the enemy of the nation works about as well as healing your body by removing its bones. But that is the experiment we’ve begun.
Weaponization of the Department of Justice and groundwork in the states to “protect our elections” will do the opposite. There will be threats of violence against dissenters to the MAGA regime at federal, local, and fan base levels. There will be games to further undermine trust in the electoral system. I’m not sure how far repression and punishment against any critical press will have gone in two years. But with a leader without guardrails, I don’t expect the next election to be free and fair.
Many of Trump’s promises will not be realized, of course. Just as Mexico didn’t pay for a wall, tariffs will not “bring down” the now sub 3% inflation rate. But his failures will never be his fault. They will be the fault of the liberals, the Jews, the gays, the immigrants, and perhaps China, along with the US government, and the press. Punishing the enemies will distract from any failures, and demonstrate his strength.
My wife and I were just in Budapest, where we started a Viking River Cruise up the Danube to Germany. We had a couple of days to explore the city. It was very nice. It wasn’t obvious to a visitor it was run by an authoritarian fascist. Maybe it will be like that here, as well. As least for an old white guy like me, if I keep my mouth shut. I hope I have the courage not to. I’m grieving for the USA that at least strove for liberty and justice for all. Abandoning democracy is legitimate, but it’s very sad. I believed in that experiment.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-trump-presidency-could-lead-purge-pentagon-2024-11-10
I agree with every thing you have said. I can not imagine what the future will be like, hopefully the Republicans who have seen who Trump is appointing to high level positions will form a new party.