Nichterscheinen der Republikaner helfen den Demokraten, Biden-Kandidaten für die Justiz durchzusetzen

Nice to hear some good news for a change. The first Trump election made me disappointed and angry. This time around, I’m just unbearably sad that so many Americans voted for a senile clown. Yes, Biden no doubt has dementia, but least he has a heart.

I’ll keep saying it.

The GOP is not as well organized as it was. It’s part of the Trump effect.

Go nuts, do everything you can

There’s a thin silver lining here in the fact that a Biden administration is sandwiched in between two Trump admins. In retrospect, yes, Biden should have refused to run for a second term, but there are still some roadblocks in place for Republicans.

Looking at the last eight years alone, two consecutive Trump terms would have been more damaging.

Contrarily, the Trump/MAGA coalition has had four years to prepare an agenda that will bring about a crisis of incompetence at every level government, and pave the way for Republicans to consolidate power.

If Trump won in 2020, the midterms would have probably been more favorable for Democrats though. and judging by the shit show in the house the last two years, the GOP would have probably been even more powerless due to the Republican factionalism we’ve seen.

Also, a second consecutive Trump presidency would have completely tarnished his legacy, considering that it was always going to be an uphill battle no matter who won in 2020.

Inflationary issues, economic fallout from the pandemic, foreign conflicts, increased immigration, all of these things would have still occurred under a 2020 Trump presidency. (If you’re skeptical about that last one, remember that there was a massive slowdown in immigration due to the pandemic, and subsequent migration/asylum restrictions). And judging by Trump’s previous economic and foreign policy record, which was disastrous mind you, it’s very likely that some of these issues would have been exacerbated by another Trump term.

However, precisely because Biden is sandwiched between two Trump terms, his admin can forever be scapegoated by Republicans for any and all problems that may arise over the next four years. Whereas, if Trump won in 2020, Republicans would have, realistically, no one to blame but themselves. That probably wouldn’t stop them from finding some way to blame Democrats though.

What’s really unnerving is the fact that Donald Trump will be inheriting a growing economy for the second time. He’ll take credit for everything he can take credit for, and he’ll blame others for everything he can avoid taking responsibility for.

History is repeating itself. At the end of the last two Republican administrations, an economic crisis emerged, both times a Democrat stepped into office and was forced to oversee a recovery and handle the subsequent fallout. And in the midst of this fallout, Republicans took advantage of the opportunity to turn crisis into campaign talking points.

Donald Trump inherited a growing economy in 2017, and he left office in 2020 with the economy in tatters.

Under Trump the national debt exploded.

Under Trump Republicans passed tax cuts legislation that permanently and disproportionately benefited the rich and corporations, legislation that is estimated to cost the government trillions.

During his first presidency, Trump instigated a trade war with China and his tariff policies did far more harm than good. While his tariff proposals for his next administration are estimated to be far more economically damaging for Americans.

While he was president, Trump pressured the Fed to keep interest rates low for political gain.

His administration hamstringed the labor movement, made it more difficult for workers to unionize, weakened labor regulations and protections, reduced overtime pay eligibility, and implemented policies that generally favored employers over employees, taking power away from unions.

Trump also mishandled the pandemic at nearly every turn, and was responsible, in no small part, for encouraging Republicans to politicize every aspect of COVID. The culture wars that ensued divided Americans during a time of crisis.

It can’t be emphasized enough that all of these things and more contributed to economic issues that extended into the Biden administration.

In terms of his foreign policy, and I’ll have to make this as brief as I can, he also cozied up to the world’s autocrats and dictators, and escalated conflicts in multiple theaters. In fact, during Trump’s presidency, Congress had to pass not one, but two historic war powers resolutions due to Trump’s dangerous interventionism and his actions that directly led to increased provocations in multiple foreign regions.

Trump weakened our alliances, emboldened our enemies, withdrew from the working nonproliferation agreement with Iran, abandoned our Kurdish allies, aided the Kremlin agenda and Russian proxy wars, sought to weaken NATO, rescind Russian sanctions, encouraged Russian cyber attacks, crippled our ability to act as peace brokers between Israelis and Palestinians, made allies with the Saudi crown Prince and emboldened and intervened in his violent, warmongering agenda in Yemen.

Trump literally negotiated with terrorists, caved into the Taliban’s pressures, made concessions that were dubious at best, and provided no Afghanistan withdrawal or evacuation plan for the next administration. And this doesn’t even scratch the surface.

Unfortunately, the fallout from all of this will be blamed on Biden in perpetuity, but ironically, if it were not for Biden winning in 2020, the outcomes under Trump would have been far far worse. That’s the silver lining here I suppose, and maybe, considering everything, it’s thinner than I imagined.

It’s a shame that such a large percentage of the American electorate does not make politically informed decisions, that they care more about their immediate circumstances than knowing anything I’ve mentioned previously about Trump’s record.

Walter Lippman, one of the most influential journalists in American history, called the general public an “irrational force,” nearly a century ago. This message rings true today more than ever.

*Feelings* are what got Trump elected, and although there might be some of us looking forward to the next Trump administration crashing and burning, let’s instead hope that Republicans run into enough obstacles, that any challenges or threats to democracy are met with the appropriate guardrails, and that the ramifications of a second Trump term are just critical enough to encourage Americans to make politically informed decisions moving forward.

Finally some good news

That thumbnail is hilarious!

My guess is that they didn’t show up because of future administration appointments or SCOTUS nominations–Rubio for the former, Cruz for the latter.

I’m just waiting for Colonel Sanders to be the new dang Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Democracy speed run

Awww, but they were on a class trip that day

Khan to another 5 year term to the FTC!