Politics Not as Usual

Trump and Musk:
The new Tsar and Rasputin?

I've been avoiding writing about the political scene because it's so damned depressing. Trump is not even in office yet and he is already sowing seeds of sedition and destruction. He and his Rasputin Elon Musk are trying to sink a budget deal and shut down the government. He won a settlement from ABC over George Stephanopoulos's calling him an adjudicated rapist. (I guess George should have said he was gulity of sexual assault and left it at that.) Trumpy is suing an Iowa newspaper for publishing a poll putting Kamala Harris slightly ahead of him during the last months of the election. These last two are the most dangerous. ABC settled the suit for $15 million, fearing reprisals and a possible loss of their license from Trumpy once he was in office. Trump is now emboldened and ready to sue any press outlet that made him look bad (as the Iowa poll did.) This will have a chilling effect on a free and open press. If you're worried about revenge from the President, you tend not to criticize him. Trumpy is probably hoping one of these cases may go to the dictator-friendly SCOTUS and they'll reverse the Sullivan v. NYTimes decision, making it easier to sue unfriendly journalists. Also Trump and his minions are making noises about charging Liz Chaney with something. What did she do that was illegal except oppose Trump? As Anne Applebaum of the Atlantic has continually reminded us, these are the first baby steps towards authoritarianism.

But Trump supporters don't seem to care about that. They want lower grocery prices and tighter borders. (Those were the two big issues which put Trumpy over the top and defeated Harris, according to a relative visiting over the holidays, reporting what his Trump-voting friends said.) But what will happen when the Orange Hitler imposes his tarriffs and deports everybody and their grandma? Prices for eggs and gasoline are probably not going to go down any time soon. Even Trump admits that. And when millions of undocumented workers are snatched away from the labor market, who will pick the crops, clean our hotel rooms, build and renovate our buildings, and mow our lawns?

Maybe our democracy can weather four more years of Trump's fascistic tendencies, but with everyone from Morning Joe to Jeff Bezos to even some Dems such as Fetterman caving in to him to one degree or another, what will be left when he's finished in 2028?