Eight years ago I wrote couple of blogs about the election. I wrote about what we had done as a nation and what the Democrats needed to do to regain the White House. 4 years ago, the Democrats succeeded in winning back the White House, but they did nothing to combat the issues that were in place 8 years ago. So this year they repeated what they did 8 years ago with the predictable result. Isn't it the definition of insanity to do the same thing over and over again but expect a different result?
The difference between now and 8 years ago is that I'm no longer emotionally engaged in the process. I did my part by voting in the very red state on South Carolina and that was as far as it went. I didn't watch anything on TV about the election. I didn't read anything. Just a night of entertainment and then off to bed at 10. Woke up this morning to the results of the election and just went about my day as I always do.
I said 8 years ago that we get the leaders we deserve and that holds true. I believe it was Patton Oswalt who said, "we are way more sexist than we are racist, and we're pretty fucking racist", and I think when it comes to leading the country, that is clearly true. I won't be giving the Democrats any advice or any roadmaps to the future. I'm sure that they will return in 4 years with more of the same and after living through the shit show that will be the next Trump Presidency, America may be ready to move on again. However Trump will replace 2 older Supreme court justices and solidify the fundamentalist majority for the rest of my life. I wrote 8 years ago that the election boiled down to one issue, The Supreme Court. Probably the most prescient I've ever said in these many years of writing here.
We might be genuinely screwed as a nation. The second Trump term will be much worse than the first. Social Security will probably be bankrupt in 8 years. New Tariffs will cause inflation and job loss. Mass deportation will cause chaos across the country. The department of Education may be disbanded. RFK Jr. is going to make a mockery of our health departments. Heaven forbid we have another pandemic because millions will die needlessly. This is just the beginning. From replacing lifetime bureaucrats with loyalists, to stocking the federal courts with fundamentalist Judges, we are in for a transformative 4 years. All that being said, the day to day workings of the country won't change much. Democracy will survive the second Trump term and there won't be anarchy in the streets.
My biggest regret is that we had the chance to get rid of this con man once and for all and we blew it. He would have become as insignificant and Joe Biden has already become. Whether I do well or poorly is seldom, if ever, affected by who is the White House. I am just annoyed that I'll have to listen to the non stop assholery from person now in charge of the country for the next four years.
