One of the perils of being an Independent voter, as well as mostly a nihilist, is that I often think of the worst possible outcome…and expect to see it.
I’ve never been as completely saddened by America as I am now. #Whitelash and emotion-based politics carried the day over dull competence and multicultural globalism last night.
The scared and fed-up Trump voters fell for a con man who made them feel special. He’s not likely to have a positive long term effect on their lives and struggles, no matter what kind of conciliatory speeches he gives. A man who gleefully accepted and encouraged hate and divisiveness in his campaign, who surrounds himself with ‘advisors’ with similar failings…is not going to suddenly turn around and become Reagan 2.o.
Reagan, by the way, was *terrible* for the US, and came into office under clouds of scandal that were largely forgotten by his current worshipers. Anyone recall Iran Contra? The Reagan Recession? The big lie of Trickle-Down Economics?
How much worse will Trump be?
Instead of ‘draining the swamp’ of government, we’ll have a worse crop of evil and/or incompetent political operatives gaining power and staying in power. Think they’ll give a shit about the angry, lost, scared Red-state voters? Ha. Y’all were marks, doing exactly what the con-man wanted you to do.
What’s next for America? A sitting President continually mired in far worse scandals, with no experience, with a cabinet hand-picked to be the among the worst anti-science, pro-religion thugs we’ve seen in decades.
A lot of damage can be done in four years. #Whitelash is the way the non-whites are now referring to the smoldering hate, anger, and fear of the voters who spoke for Trump yesterday.
With more dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, even the possible 2020 backlash of Latino and African American voters probably won’t be able to do much. The idiots will be in power for decades, until the last of the old white ‘Leave it to Beaver’ 1950s fantasy-peddlers die off.
If you want an indicator of post-neoliberal America, look at the state of Kansas. Sam Brownback swept into power, and now Kansas is suffering for his policies.
That’s the rest of the country, very soon.
We can’t even take solace if Trump is (I think inevitably) impeached, because his VP is another Brownback, squared. The Supreme Court will be packed with ultra conservative judges. Roe v. Wade will be abolished; expect to see common forms of contraception made illegal. Press freedoms will fall to authoritarian crackdowns in the fashion of China, Turkey, Venezuela, or Russia. So goodbye whistleblowers. There won’t be a better answer to health care, other than the old ‘Pay for all of your $125,000 heart surgery yourself, you freeloader’ system. We’ll be a backward anti-science nation in a world where science and high-technology are the only real paths forward. International trading partners and investors will pull away, because America is suddenly a crap investment. We also face new and terrifying international political consequences.
We are one big natural disaster from Balkanizing into smaller, fractured tribal states.
America got exactly the President it deserves. I’m just sorry the rest of us have to deal with this temper tantrum.