What now, America?
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself (and the TV) for the past month. And of course there’s no answer. But what if we’re not doomed? What if we’re not on the precipice after all?
Here’s some random hot takes about what’s been in the news lately.
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The Republican identity crisis. What a sticky situation for them. Call for a smooth transition? They’re in trouble with the Grifter-in-Chief and their voter pawns in Georgia. Double down on Trump, and they risk being seen as a losing loser by moderates. Walk the middle? They alienate MAGAs who want blood. I’ll be curious to see where their loyalty goes, but come January, I bet most of them will drop Trump like a bag of dirt. They will always follow the party, not the person and besides, they’ll want to leave their own political ambitions open.
Recount rallies. Rallies are Trump’s raison d'être so it’s likely that he’ll resurrect the roadshow. He may squeeze in a couple before leaving office, but whatever he puts on after that will be a sad sight by comparison. His private jet won’t have nearly the gravitas of Air Force One or a military flyover. He won’t be able to bulldoze his way into any city or state. And the macho man routine will look even more pitiful without the regalia behind it. Plus, these things take an enormous amount of coordination. And based on the Four Seasons mix-up, it’s obvious that logistics are not a strong suit for these people.
Media. It’s clear by now that every non-fringe media outlet is sick of Trump. Even Fox News. They’ve mounted only a tepid defense of the “hoax” and have put many of Trump’s cronies on blast. Even Tucker Carlson is calling bullshit (a bit fishy, but let’s look past that for now.) Look, Rupert Murdoch made a deal with the devil four years ago and it’s been very profitable for him, but the more Trump keeps biting the hand that feeds him, the faster that welcome mat will roll up. OANN and Newsmax are picking up the slack for now, but those only cater to the extreme-y of extremists. The rest of the trolls will flock to Parler, only to quickly jump ship when they realize there are no libs to own there.
Militias. There’s valid concern here. Nobody wants armed goons rolling through their cities. But for all the talk of uprisings by “organized militias,” they’re pretty unorganized if you think about it. The Whitmer plot fell apart because they couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They only pulled together a few thousand for their Million MAGA March. And how about all the people who believe “the South will rise again?” They’ve been saying that for over a hundred years and have accomplished little more than shooting up some beer cans. And you better believe the FBI will be all over this once Biden’s in office.
Legal proceedings. There’s a pretty good chance that soon after January, Trump will be knee deep in lawsuits. There are currently six major ones pending and who knows how many smaller ones. At the very least, his big loans will come due soon, pre-pardons or not, and with that he’ll have a new set of grievances to take up. Maybe he’ll lose a property or two. Maybe he’ll be forced out of the country. Or go into hiding. Maybe even his own kids will turn on him to save their butts. It’s probably not the orange jumpsuit we’re hoping for, but the other shoe is about to drop one way or another.
Demographics. This is an important one. Maybe THE most important one. Remember 2008? In order for Barack Obama to run as a black man he needed a reliable, fatherly white man by his side to ease concerns among white voters. And now? Joe Biden had to run with a black woman to even stand a chance. Sure, you could argue that our disgust with Trump would have been enough. But in a two-party system, the choices would have felt too similar and I’m guessing a lot of people would have just checked out. This signals the balance of power from white to non-white has shifted and, correspondingly, from conservative to progressive. It bodes well for the long term.
Laziness. And here’s the coup de grace. Trump has logged 400+ days on the golf course since taking office and did even less than the bare minimum when he actually showed up. It’s clear he loves the glory but loathes the legwork of presidency. He may need to leave the White House kicking and screaming, and he may launch a half-ass campaign for 2024, but he’ll soon remember the good old days of getting to do all the moronic stuff he’s already doing, but with even less accountability.
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It’s hard to look past the conspiracy theories. Or the 70M+ people who voted against democracy and decency. But we also have to remember that many more and then some voted for it. They looked at Trump and saw exactly who he is: simpleton, fraud, coward. They looked at the rest of his administration and saw the same thing. They realized that voting isn’t a joke anymore -- it’s the difference between life and death. And as hoop after hoop got thrown in front of them, they showed up anyway.
When I think about all those things, in a rare show of optimism, I tell myself that everything will be ok.
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