When Donald Trump puts his left hand on a bible, raises his right hand, and recites the oath of office to be the next President of the United States tomorrow, he will have fulfilled the highest aspirations of our Founding Fathers. He will be a convicted felon, a twice-impeached former president, the incitor-in-chief of an attempted coup, a spreader of the most noxious lies about, well, anything he doesn't like which includes, but is not limited to, the election of 2020, the reality of global climate change, the role and responsibilities of the press, the contributions of immigrants, the threat of transgender and gay Americans to society, the weather, and anybody who contradicts him.
And I'm fairly sure, if I read my history accurately, that the founders also hoped that the president would be advised by unqualified, obsequious, ring-kissers, whose only aim was the destruction of the balance of powers that so delicately underscores our government of laws. They would likely give extra points for advisors who were adulterers, substance abusers, dog killers, supporters of racist, antisemitic, and anti-immigrant groups, and those who reject science and reason in the name of public health.
Exactly what Madison, Franklin, Washington, and Hamilton had in mind during that hot summer of 1787 in Philadelphia.
The Republican Party has a long, distinguished tradition that goes back to its founding and its first elected president, Abraham Lincon. In 2024, rather than being the vanguard of a new, better, more forward-thinking conservative movement, the Republican Party more resembles the Know Nothings of the 1850s, a rabid anti-immigrant, populist party who saw threats from anyone who was not an American, and of course they defined who fit that description.
If you thought the first Trump Administration was bad, then just wait. Many in the media, and on the left, think that Trump is just posturing or using tariffs and deportations and foreign adventures as opening arguments to scare and cajole, and that he'll moderate his positions because he's afraid the stock market will go south. Perhaps. But I prefer to take the chief Know Nothing at his word, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the next four years will be worse than advertised.
Because Donald Trump truly believes he won the election of 2020, even though he lost rather badly. And consider that Mr. Know Nothing has NEVER won more than 49% of the popular vote in three elections. He is not popular to a majority of Americans and never has been. Yes, many people who formerly supported Democrats voted for him in November, and the vote was closer in many blue states than in 2020. But in the end, Donald Trump won by a razor thin margin. He has no popular mandate. And the Republicans have the slimmest majority in the House of Representatives in the nation's history. But somehow, the press across the political spectrum seems to think he and his party have been anointed. It's disturbing.
And he also really believes that climate change is a hoax. He will commit us to dirtier air, dirtier water, more drilling and less energy security than ever. Because oil prices are determined more by the oil producing countries that don't like us, not by American states where energy is produced. Clean energy is far more secure because we can harness our own wind and solar power and sell it at prices we can set and influence. So if you want the US to worry more about what's going on in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, then more drilling is your policy. And if you want more fires, stronger storms, hotter heat waves, and higher home insurance rates, then rest assured, these are on their way.
The rest of the industrialized world, and a smattering of countries that are newly industrializing, have committed to renewable energy and are transitioning to cleaner fuels. We risk going backwards. President Biden was able to get Congress to pass laws that would help us move to a more sustainable future. This includes jobs in red states building batteries and green technologies. Why would we want to undo that? If we want to compete with China, we will need to move forward with electric cars, heat pumps, and charging stations. More oil and gas is exactly the wrong policy. But what would you expect from a candidate who courted the oil industry, reaped billions over three campaigns, and wants oil and gas executives to run cabinet offices that oversee the land, water, and air.
Add in the retribution Trump has promised against the people who have tried to hold him accountable for taking documents, classified and not, that did not belong to him and then repeatedly lying about whether he'd returned them, for trying to get Georgia to "find" him votes, which is called, um, fraud, and for finding him guilty of 34 counts of fraud for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, and what you have is a president who will be a danger to the rule of law. Presidents should focus on the positives they can bring to their administrations and not on how they are going to get back at their perceived enemies.
Are there some positives? The stock market could see some gains, and if the president can get concessions from other countries without punitive tariffs, then we can build on what the Biden economic team has left them: a vibrant economy that is adding jobs and higher wages. Perhaps the Trump Administration can also get the food and pharmaceutical industries to change some of their dangerous and costly practices so we can have more healthy food and less expensive health care. And of course there's the promise of immigration reform at the border and for companies that need more workers that the US can't readily provide.
Mixed in with all of these policies, though, are negatives such as more tax cuts for the already wealthy, tariffs that reignite inflation and foreign policy tensions, the spread of formerly contained diseases because of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine denial, and deportation camps run by the US Army, which would be a shocking violation of everything this country stands for. Create and enforce the laws, but the image of federal and state authorities raiding schools, hospitals, homes, and workplaces, and dragging people into vans will be chilling, and a reminder of what happens when we move away from democtratic principles.
It all starts tomorrow.
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