Addendum

 Yesterday I talked a little about why I feel so upset about Trump's electoral win. 

There's a lot more I could say, especially on the role of civic law vs heavenly law, but I actually want to tie what I said back to an earlier post. The one about the endgame in chess.

See - Trump and his supporters gained power through cynical lying and manipulation. And while that obviously has given them control over all three branches of government, I would still argue that it is like  building a house on sand. 

First - there are numerous Americans who voted for someone they thought would 'Make America Great Again'.

That means the Trump administration has to deliver success. Real improvement in the quality of the average American's life. 

Scapegoats and fingerpointing might work for a bit, but it will only last so long. There are some very real and sincere doubts about how this whole deportation thing is going to work. Are they rounding up all the agricultural workers who harvest our food? In which case... won't food prices rise? Or will Trump make some sort of deal to overlook agricultural workers, in which case he'll have to hide his inability to deliver on his promises.

Like - there are reasons most politicians didn't say the things Trump said. He's managed to get people to overlook his inability to actually accomplish much of anything by shifting the blame and various other techniques. I have no idea how long that can last, though. He did deliver on the Supreme Court... and now the Supreme Court is seriously discredited and legal precedents are all in question, but I'm sure his people think they can deal with all of that given enough time.

Which leads to the second problem - you will reach for the same tools that helped you succeed in the first place.

Opposition and disagreement will be handled with the same cynical lying and manipulation. After all, it 'worked'. Right?

Label everyone who opposes you 'antifa' or 'liberal', say they're the reason why you aren't able to deliver that fantastical utopia you promised, divide and conquer...

Basically, you wind up going down the exact same path every other autocratic dictator does. I'm sure they all think they could have done great things, 'if only'. If only they weren't betrayed by people who disagreed with them. If only they had more power. If only they could round up everyone who got in their way and punish them.

It's that exact same tendency, though, that is the reason why they keep running into obstacle after obstacle. They create enemies where they don't have to, they constantly have to keep up the lying and manipulation, and as soon as they make a mistake or let the mask slip everything they built will wash away like sand.

That's the endgame.

It may get delayed, one such leader might maintain control until the day they die, and only one of their successors faces the consequences, but it's just a temporary reprieve.

You can not build anything worthwhile and lasting through lies and deceit.

There is no 'but they started it!'

And if your argument is 'but then we'll lose'... then maybe you should lose. Better to lose than to win in such a way that you betray everything you ever stood for.