I pitched this piece at almost the exact moment when Donald Trump was taking his oath of office. What I expected to argue was that it would take a while to see what type of President Trump would become the second time around. The first term was characterized by authoritarianism and subversion but also incompetence and especially graft, as he moved to use the Oval Office for personal enrichment. I expected this corruption to play a greater role, and for it to occupy a good portion of his Presidency.
In some small way, I have been right. With the launch of Donald Trump, and his wife Melania’s cryptocurrencies or, in internet slang, shitcoins, and the backing of big tech companies – Elon Musk certainly has ideological beliefs – but for the others, it is painfully obvious they want favours and are prepared to pay.
But overall, Trump’s first days in office have left nothing in doubt. He is consumed by his agenda and there will be little in the way to obstruct it. His efforts to end birthright citizenship and his pardoning of virtually all of the insurrectionists show this clearly.
Before Monday, I believed that some of his more outlandish plans like invading Canada or deporting America’s illegal immigrants would not come to pass, but now I am considerably less sure. Trump will continue to be a grifter. After all, he’s been one since before he entered politics. But the grifting will be peripheral to his singular resolve to dig and dig until he hits rock bottom.
It’s impossible to say where rock bottom is. Maybe it’s even higher prices and more inequality, or maybe it’s a Canadian Insurgency. What is clear is that there must be an alternative, what that is, however, I am unsure of.
The two previous crises that America has faced – the Great Depression and the Civil War – were marked by presidents which history regards as universally incompetent. Joe Biden will likely stand with James Buchanan and Herbert Hoover in this regard. My fervent hope is that waiting in the wings is the next Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A politician capable of charting the country through rough seas and piecing it back together.
Joe Biden was right about one thing: there is a fight for the heart and soul of America. Here is to hoping there is someone out there who can win.
“Donald Trump Signs The Pledge” by Michael Vadon is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.