By Michael Woyton
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get much sleep last night.
In my estimation, the headline for today is that a majority of voters in America just gave a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist the keys to the kingdom, and he can do whatever he wants with them.
Donald Trump was the 45th president of the United States and will become the 47th president next January 20.
How did we get here?
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Trump managed to mine the hate, the racism, the anger and the fear of the electorate, which allowed them to come to the decision that only he could make them all feel better. Never mind that we already had four years of a Trump administration that certainly did not make everyone feel better — I’m looking at you, COVID.
How is Trump going to fix all that he says is wrong with America?
For starters, Trump has promised to initiate the mass deportation of immigrants who are not in this country legally.
I imagine that due process will fall by the wayside, and if someone’s mother or father or aunt or uncle who can’t produce the right papers at the right time get deported, so be it. And it will not help to tell the officers rounding you up that you voted for Trump; they won’t care and they won’t believe you.
Economists have said that a mass deportation will severely harm the workforce and will make the GDP plunge by 9 percent.
I am also certain that the 51 percent of Trump voters will all gain comfort by the dismantling of the civil service workforce in the Washington, D.C., government so that Trump and his minions can install loyalists in their place. Don’t worry about your Social Security checks and Medicaid payments arriving on time. The loyalists will probably have a bit of a learning curve in their new jobs. It takes time to find out where the coffee filters and the copy paper are stored.
It will be a good idea to buy your essentials sooner than later, especially if they are imported goods. Trump said time and time again that the 20 percent or so tariffs imposed on said goods that he is planning will be paid by the country in which they are made. Reality check: They will not be. You will pay the extra 20 percent.
Elon Musk, who could very well be Trump’s economic advisor and government-efficiency guru, said that economic chaos with financial hardship is to be expected if Trump is returned to the White House and federal spending is slashed.
Say goodbye to the Affordable Care Act. Say hello to having country-wide health decisions made by Robert Kennedy Jr. and his brain worm, and welcome back measles.
For other possible Trump 2.0 goals, see Project 2025.
Likely the most serious and longest-lasting result of Trump’s win will be a weakening of democracy in America.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, the presidency’s power is unchecked what with the immunity-for-official-acts ruling. With any other president — save perhaps Nixon, Americans could rest assured that such a ruling would not be abused.
There is no such comfort with Donald Trump. He lusts for unchecked power — the same as his buddies in Russia, China and North Korea.
During most of his rallies, he had told us what he wants to do with his political opponents and will weaponize the Department of Justice to suit his needs.Trump learned from his first term; there will be no one around him to rein him in this time.
The sad thing is, none of this is news.
We’ve known who and what he was since he came down that golden escalator June 16, 2015.
Some of us — too many of us — either forgot it all or chose to ignore it.
Right now, we need to take care of ourselves and those we love.
We will need the strength of numbers down the road.
Lead art: Google Maps screen grab
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