The 2020 elections have been interesting, to say the least. Never before have we had an incumbent president threaten our institutions of democracy the way Donald Trump has. And assuming, at the time of writing this article, that Trump is soundly defeated in this election, unfortunately it will not be the last we hear from 45.
If Trump is not taken into custody to stand trial for his many crimes both in and out of the Oval office, he will flee the United States. He’s already said as much to his supporters at a rally in Georgia. He will act as a president-in-exile. He will keep his supporters foaming-at-the-mouth mad that the election was stolen from him.
In short, the United States will survive but not without some lasting bruises and scars from having made one of the biggest mistakes in its history.
Look for violence. A lot of violence. Domestic terrorism will become even more frequent and on larger scales in urban centers. All the pent-up racism that was unleashed by Trump cannot be reined in, not for years and years to come anyway.
Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell have also done quite a number on the courts, packing them with unqualified, hyperpartisan extremists. That damage can be mitigated if Democrats use the power that the Constitution and hopefully the people will have granted them.
Then there’s COVID-19. Yes, eventually it will pass and we will all settle into some kind of new normal. But as much as anything Trump’s mismanagement of this health crisis has turned people’s lives upside down, permanently for some. Those lost lives and livelihoods will most certainly leave a mark.
And what about all those separated immigrant families? Of course a Biden administration will make every effort to ensure as many families are reunited as possible. But there is a great deal of damage done that cannot be undone.
Hopefully, in time, the United States will heal. But not all wounds will in fact heal. That is an unfortunate reality. Let’s hope the next time some blowhard con man runs for so much as dog catcher, he or she will be resoundingly defeated. Psychopaths do not belong in charge of anything in business, politics, law enforcement; the list goes on. For just as sure as a psychopath is put in a position of authority, he or she will abuse that authority. And people. Get. Hurt.
At the time I was finishing this piece, the election was finally called for Joe Biden. Trump of course is filing lawsuits that will fail to save him. That should be enough to give some sense of relief. But it isn’t. I’m intensely disgusted by the fact that this election was as close as it was. Yes, Biden won 78 million votes to Trump’s 72 million (at press time). But that’s 72 million of my countrymen who, after four years of seeing what kind of despicable human being Trump actually is, still voted for him! That’s depressing as hell. And scary. Trump voters are either or both intellectually and morally bankrupt. And that is dangerous. And heartbreaking.
The United States of America is broken. I suppose it always was. I hope someday things will be better, but I’m not particularly optimistic at this point.
Our so-called “freedoms” are a double-edged sword. Trump’s deplorables have the freedom to fill their kids’ heads full of racist crap that I’m sure will result in more touring teenagers from Trump country strolling the streets of our fair city, smugly and defiantly wearing their MAGA garb. I’ll be interested to see when, or even if, local vendors will pull their Trump merchandise.
It’s going to make me mad. It’s going to make me sick. It’s going to make me sad. But mostly it’s going to make me mad. But should it? Aren’t these deplorables my American sisters and brothers whether I like it or not? Well of course they are, but I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. And I’m sick and tired of their idiocy. These yahoos produce the culture that inspired Kyle Rittenhouse and his ilk (most of whom were young white men) to carry out acts of domestic terrorism. This cycle either stops or we need, we deserve to separate ourselves from it.
I honestly wish we could have a peaceful separation of the United States. Am I wrong for that? I really don’t think so. Let the deplorables have the South (or whatever) just so long as they leave the rest of us alone! And in time, they would collapse and be begging to rejoin the Union. Maybe then under those circumstances the bigoted might see the error of their ways. Naw, I doubt it.
Meh.
Jeff Taylor is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.
