The "find out" phase begins
Voters effed around. And now ...
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On November 5, voters handed Donald Trump a decisive win in the Electoral College. They did this following a campaign during which he was convicted of felonies, smeared migrants as backward pet-eaters, demonized trans people, lied about the 2020 election being stolen, invoked fascist “vermin” tropes to dehumanize his political foes and daydreamed about them being victims of deadly violence, promised to pardon the “J6 hostages,” and on and on and on.
Trump’s campaign was ugly, dystopian, and authoritarian. His first presidency was a disaster. A near majority of voters pulled the lever to put him back in charge anyway.
Put bluntly, we, as a country, fucked around.
November’s debacle set the stage for yesterday, when Trump was again sworn in as president. Predictably, he gave an inaugural speech in which he demonized trans people, threatened to take back the Panama Canal by force, and lied about Democrats being part of a conspiracy to murder him. He then celebrated at an event where he lied some more about the 2020 election being stolen, falsely accused his political foes of crimes, and boasted about pardoning the "J6 hostages,” including ones convicted of brutally assaulting police officers. (Trump’s comments were somewhat overshadowed by his wealthiest and most prominent adviser, Elon Musk — who recently made headlines by endorsing the closest thing Germany has these days to the the Nazis — giving what sure looked like a Sieg Heil salute to a crowd not once, but twice.)
Even after all that, it turned out Trump was just getting started flooding the zone with shit. Back at to the White House, he held a press event where he signed executive orders and took questions from reporters. Trump promised ICE deportation raids in major cities, wouldn’t rule out using military force against Mexico, signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship (that will certainly be challenge in court), announced his intention to implement 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, defended pardoning J6 criminals who beat cops, claimed “we have bigger problems” than China using TikTok to exploit American kids, and expressed doubt about the ceasefire in Gaza holding, but suggested it could at least be a good spot for condos.
“It’s a phenomenal location,” he said. “Some beautiful things could be done with it.” (Watch below.)
All of this — everything Trump said and did, his incessant lying, all the dangerous and destabilizing authoritarian bluster, glorification of political violence, the terrible policies he implemented — was completely predictable based on his campaign, character, and first term in office. None of it should have come as a surprise. To the extent anybody was in fact caught off guard to learn that Trump is not actually committed to a ceasefire in Gaza, or that he doesn’t actually Back the Blue, they were either misinformed or not informed at all.
And now we, as a country, are about to find out.
Those of us who didn’t die or end up with a disability from covid were fortunate to get through the first Trump presidency with our democracy and international alliances relatively intact. Given the blank check the Supreme Court gave him to commit crimes and the fact he’s no longer surrounded by anyone who will tell him anything other than yes, we’ll be even luckier to get through round two. And it didn’t have to be this way. Trump’s return to power is a massive systemic failure and there’s plenty of blame to go around, but ultimately we did this to ourselves. We, as voters, have to do better.
From the standpoint of January 2021, when Trump was forced out of office in disgrace following a failed coup attempt, yesterday’s events are unthinkable. But as we learned the hard way, voters have short memories and are extremely susceptible to disinformation and manipulation. As a result, a man who never should’ve been near the White House in the first place is getting a second chance to leave America in the ditch.
Things will get worse before they get better, but hope isn’t completely lost. As we discussed yesterday, Trump’s popularity has nowhere to go but down, and the next electoral tests of strength will approach quicker than we think. In the meantime, we have to preserve what we can while trying to protect our people. We can’t prevent Trump from pardoning violent insurrectionists, gutting our pandemic preparedness (again), or implementing brutal deportation policies. But we can try to make sure that Republicans pay a political price at the next opportunity for enabling what he’s already doing to the country.
We have to try to persuade voters to make sane choices going forward, and that will involve exposing Trump for the conman he is. Toward that end, please support independent media and consider a paid subscription to Public Notice if you don’t have one already. Because yesterday provided fresh examples that our billionaire social media tycoons and corporate outlets just aren’t up to the task.
Let’s talk about it
What was on your mind yesterday as the Biden presidency ended and Trump took power again? Share in the comments and we’ll chat.
I feel the notion that America is this grand experiment is a lie. America is a selfish, hypocritical, and vindictive nation. They tell themselves they are Christians while bullying the most vulnerable people.
I won't ever give up but I have to admit that I am scared shitless. Inconceivably, it's happening bigger, faster and worse than I thought. I will look to my substack writers and readers for hope and truth and ways to fight back and to protect the most vulnerable. Fight on.