The incoming Trump administration is already inserting chaos and uncertainty into our lives. Musk and Trump threatened to oust Republican lawmakers if they passed a bi-partisan government budget resolution to keep the government open through March 2025. Thankfully, this resolution passed anyway. It will provide much anticipated relief for victims of the flood disasters and to farmers. Trump bullied ABC News into settling a defamation lawsuit that correctly characterized Trump as a rapist according to a court of law. ABC not only issued a bogus apology but coughed up a $15 million donation to some Trump foundation and museum. Fani Lewis was removed from the criminal case against Trump on appeal for dating a fellow prosecutor on the case. Huh? And the threats and bullying and bribes and bogus lawsuits just keep adding up. And of course, we still have ridiculous and dangerous cabinet confirmations and tariffs and mass deportations in our future this January.
Honestly, I can’t figure out what game they are playing and who besides the ultra-wealthy will ultimately gain anything beyond more wealth and power than they already have. If money makes them so happy, why do they behave so miserably? They joined forces with the religious right who seek Taliban-like control over the lives of everyday Americans. However, by all accounts these folks fail to live up to the moral standards they hope to impose on the rest of us. The men taking charge in January are petty and infantile with over-sized egos and a total lack of empathy. They are clearly misogynist. None of their proposed policies will enrich the lives of average Americans. In fact, they will make life more expensive, uncertain and difficult for most people. Many will be hurt. The environment will take second place to profits. Some may not survive the consequences of the next few years. What good is money if the planet can no longer sustain life?
It’s alarming to watch lawmakers and journalists willingly bow down to the will of billionaire bullies. We supposedly have three co-equal branches of government, but the Supreme Court and the Republican Congress have bowed the knee to the incoming executive branch in advance. It’s truly a mystery what they hope to accomplish once they have deported necessary workers, imposed tariffs on our closest trading partners, installed unqualified loyalists in key government positions, eliminated the department of education, and dismantled the public safety net, leaving us vulnerable to disease and abject poverty.
I’m not sure where any of this will lead us. I know folks are being silenced and freedoms are being rolled back. Americans were warned that Trump threatened our democracy and they scoffed at the idea and voted for him anyway. In Trump, too many found the freedom to express their discomfort with the progress of women, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and people of color. They believe they were choosing a return to white male superiority and protections for white women. The reality of what they will receive for their vote beyond mass deportations and higher prices and a chaotic government will soon be revealed.
I do know that the end game, whatever it is, is not going to be good for the country nor ultimately for the bullies themselves. History has shown us that oppressed people eventually gather the courage to revolt against their oppressors. I believe Trump voters are only at the beginning stage of recognizing who those oppressors are.