Election 2024 - Further Thoughts

 A heavy feeling is weighing on me as the ramifications of another Trump presidency sink in.

I had really hoped we'd be able to avoid this. I didn't want to see how he would further warp the America I know and love.

I've had numerous ideas for posts over the past couple of days - some more angry, some more thoughtful, some more focused on the details of the election and some more focused on larger historical trends.

I've also debated writing much of anything.

I've been posting less these days, and that's partly because it just feels like an exercise in screaming into the void.

No, that's not quite right. The big issues, the ones that permeate this era (like growing income inequality or the threat of climate change), are like the blue lighting in a movie. The effects are everywhere, but your eyes soon adapt and your attention is more drawn to the immediate action.

Talking about them generally is just repeating what the people who care already know. The issue is with the people who don't care...

And I highly doubt they're reading my blog here on the internet. So what difference does it make if I write twenty posts on the problems with letting income inequality continue to grow? 

I had thought something similar about Trump, tbh. Sure... he had his base, and they were never going to accept anything negative about their idol. And that base apparently included some wealthy people I would have hoped knew better (the wife of a Supreme Court justice really didn't see any problem with January 6?!?!?! That level of ignorance is pretty horrifying in someone who you'd expect to pick up by osmosis (if nothing else) some basic understanding of the Constitution.)

But I had thought most of the Americans who were more objective would have understood just what a threat to democracy Trump poses.

I mean - I get that most people do not have the time or energy for it. Nor the interest. Being able to explain what the reading of the states votes were on Jan 6, why Pence couldn't change the results, why the fake electors were a problem, and how all of that combined to undermine the Constitution is not something I would expect the average voter to understand.

But I expected.... Idk. Something like the wisdom of crowds. Like how you might not know enough to repair your car, but you have a buddy who does and you get their advice. 

The arguments that Trump and his allies made were in such bad faith that anyone with any sort of knowledge of the issue knew they were lying liars who lie.

Just like Trump's claims that mail in voting was less secure (and his claims about voting fraud in general).

These are issues that are too nuanced to fit in a handy meme. That yes, there is sometimes voting fraud. It generally gets caught because states have procedures in place (like checking voting rolls against death certificates, which can take time)... and that such fraud is rare and not nearly in large enough quantities to change the results of an election.

It's basically the difference between winning by 100 or winning by 99 votes.

But it's much easier for Trump and his allies to shout from the rooftops about voter fraud, and allege that the election was stolen - and in the process undermine trust and faith in our elections, and prep his supporters to support more drastic action if he loses. (and yes, it is amazing how quickly they dropped all those arguments as soon as Trump legitimately won. Not questioning the results any more, are we?)

It's disgusting.

It's sickening.

And he just got elected president, again.

His allies are already muttering about changing the limit on two terms in office - just like Putin did in Russia to allow himself to remain in control.

I really hope that effort goes nowhere, but we're already at this stage and nothing seems to be more than a speed bump in his steamrolling over democracy... so who knows?

I do wonder how much he'll pay attention to public opinion this time around. Does he think he still needs to win another election, and therefore he needs to be careful? Or does he think that this time is it, and will the mask come off? ('He' can also refer to all the people around him, especially as he's aging.)

That'll be something to watch, because what he was elected to do is not what he and his supporters want to do.

It reminds me of something I heard long ago, I think about the English civil war? Supporters of 'the king' claimed they were standing up for the king... even when it actually want against what the king explicitly said he wanted.

They supported 'the king', which is really an image of what they image a king is, that was only loosely related to the specific individual who was actually the king.

I know that's a complicated one, sorry. Let's just say - people voted for 'Donald Trump', the loud mouthed billionaire that they think will take on the entrenched interests that have dismissed the average American's concerns and led us to this state. 

One where hard work doesn't lead to prosperity, but instead to constant stress as you live paycheck-to-paycheck, one car accident or health problem away from bankruptcy or worse. 

There's a lot more to it than that, and different people express the sentiment in different ways - and blame different people for it. But that's the core of the problem, really.

And rent and housing prices continue to rise, and instead of addressing that there are people on Twitter deciding that no... people really just don't need that much space and can just move in to lesser apartments or share costs with other people. 

As if disposable income doesn't make a huge difference in how much people spend, and when 90% of your check is allocated to food, housing, car payments and student loans there's not much left over to boost the economy with other purchases. Seriously - you can fight for a larger slice of an 8 inch pie, or you can work to turn that 8 inch pie into a 10 inch pie. One of these options is better than the other.

Anyways, I got off track again. 

The point was that the Donald Trump that won the election is not necessarily the actual, real Donald Trump. 

And the mandate he and his supporters are claiming may not be a mandate for what they actually are planning.

Then again, I did not expect Trump to win like this so what do I know? 

Unfortunately, it looks like we'll all be finding out.