According to the Associated Press election map just before 1 AM Pacific, odds are good Donald Trump managed re-election and has become the second president elected to two nonconsecutive terms. This may change by morning, but let's assume for the sake of giving me something to write about that this is the outcome.
I am skeptical of democracy and the way politics, partisanship, and nationalism have been molded into a religious fervor. I reject the legitimacy of nation-states. That said, I think I can make a case for Trump being the lesser evil.
I'm not a fan of Trump. He has a bad track record from his first term on war, spending, COVID, and so much more. He's a businessman embedded in all the corruption corporate America offers. His personal life does not even come close to striving for virtues I admire. However, he has managed to cobble together a coalition of largely anti-war Democrats and former democrats like RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, libertarian-leaning Republicans like Vivek Ramaswamy, and may have learned to avoid some of the worst influences from actually fascistic elements of the GOP.
I am absolutely disgusted by Harris. Trump may have baggage, but this woman is an entire train. She personifies the abuse of the war on drugs. Both she and Walz have condemned free speech. She can't differentiate herself from Biden's policies despite trying to present herself as somehow also bringing change and joy. She leaps to make blatantly false accusations for political gain. She received and then campaigned on endorsements from Dick and Liz Cheney, the Republican war hawks Democrats rightly condemned 20 years ago. I may not be eager to see Trump win, but I admit a deep desire to see Harris lose.
Suppose Cheeto Mussolini sheds his ego enough to listen to his new advisors and follows up on some promises. There could be a lot of good.
- Free Ross Ulbricht! Pardon Edward Snowden!
- Eliminate income taxes on wages!
- Actually open negotiations for peace instead of just funneling arms and money into foreign wars!
- Crypto-friendly policies and deregulation may emerge.
There are downsides, though.
- Will he actually cut spending and eliminate federal overreach? He didn't drain the swamp last time, and he ballooned the deficits and debt then.
- Might his sense of machismo spark more war instead of negotiating peace? This is the guy who pointlessly bombed an Iranian general in Iraq, remember.
- How will he cope with the deeper economic problems still looming over our heads, including the deepest inverted yield curve ever, stagflation, economic bubbles, and unfunded liabilities? He's in a bad spot, and his critics will eagerly pin all the blame for coming problems on him.
- The Democrat extremist wing may redouble their
riotsmostly peaceful protests in response despite calling Trump supporters "insurrectionists" for the last 4 years when they did little more than walk through strangely unsecured doors.
And what if Harris wins after all? With the popular vote and electoral college both appearing to favor Trump for now, will Republicans believe it? Personally, I'm OK with gridlock if Harris wins but Republicans hold Congress. The less government can accomplish, the less they can violate us with more bad laws. "Bipartisan agreement" means we're screwed, and single-party control means bad stuff is likely to be imposed without opposition.
Anyway, it's late, and I have a long day coming up tomorrow in the morning. After writing for 40 minutes or so, the map hasn't really changed. What are your best-case and worst-case scenarios? If Trump wins both the electoral college and the popular vote, what signal does that send? Are we living through the next major change in the American party system with populism on the right versus militarism on the left?
I would have rather had Joe Blow as to either of those two. But I did not want Trump now he is President so it has to be accepted.
We don't need to join the throngs of Maga fans celebrating like it's the second coming of Christ at least.
I will not be included in that group of people.
I am not that much aware about American politics. However, I never thought Trump could win again, as he was rejected after his first tenure. Reading your post, I realized that Trump might be preffered as the lesser of two evils as people would have seen Harris causing more troubles to them
No Matter Who Wins, Half the Country Won’t Believe in the Election. Assuming present results hold, now we see what kind of lessons Trump learned, and whether he will stumble once pressure is on again. However, the Democrats may mirror the distrust Trump and his supporters showed 4 years ago. Instead of "illegal immigrants and dead people voted for Biden and no one will examine the suspicious results," it will be, "racists suppressed minoroty voters and coerced women into betraying their interests"
Oh! It happens there too ! I thought it was a third world countries phenomenon only
That's the allegation, anyhow.
🤷♀️
It's fake news..
Who knows.
We are in an era where every news is questionable. Dilemma all around!
I’m surprised that he’s even ahead in popular votes.
We shall see who he adds to his cabinets. If he adds more neocons, we are screwed either way.
Believe me, I have little faith in Trump's ability to judge character. The campaign is over, which means promises get left behind. The hyperbolic claims that he'll institute A Handmaid's Tale are obviously absurd, but there are so many ways this could go deeply wrong as he reverts to 1st term mistake patterns and yes, neocons could play a role.
Decline is inevitable. The rate may vary. It was a lose-lose election from the start.
I wonder whether Democrat-run states will start campaigning for secession? So-called "national divorce" might become a thing, this time with proponents from the likes of California and New York.
We shall see.
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