Not long ago, I stopped in at a Jack in the Box one morning after I got off work (one of my two seasonal jobs is a graveyard shift).
There was a woman at the counter, screaming at the manager. She had gone through the drive-thru, turned around and parked and stormed inside. It seemed that the meat in her breakfast sandwich was half-frozen.
As the manager tried everything in his power to calm her down as she cranked it up to 11 about calling the Health Department down on his restaurant, I quietly backed away and walked out the door.
What the hell. There’s a Taco Bell a few doors down, anyway.
Well, the US of A is a lot like a disgruntled customer at a fast food joint right about now. “This isn’t what I ordered!” “There’s a fly in my Coke!” “Did somebody spit on my burger?” There’s going to be one helluva lot of buyer’s remorse over the next few years.
Or I suppose that you could compare this country’s mood to that of customers waiting in looonngg lines to return unwanted gifts the day after Christmas.
Only to be told, “Sorry, this is what you wanted.”
Yes, Trump’s critics were right all along. Unfortunately not enough people heard the warnings, because of the earwax composed of Fox News, Newsmax, Breitbart and Facebook.
We’ve got Trump for 206 and a half more weeks. We elected him. He got 49.8% of the vote, hardly a ringing endorsement, but enough for a win.
We also have an unelected co-president who bought his position—Elon Musk. The man is conducting his own international diplomacy and imposing his rather peculiar business ideas on everything in sight. Expect a major ego clash between Musk and Trump in the coming months.
Trump is more than a figurehead. His bizarre fascination with Greenland seems to be his thing, not an idea from the Heritage Foundation or from his nominees. It’s caused both derision throughout the world, and has our NATO allies seriously worried.
His renaming of the Gulf of Mexico is an especially bizarre detail. His renaming Mt. Denali has cost Republicans whatever inroads they made with the American Indian vote. His attacks on DEI are going to cost Republicans most of the inroads they have been making with minority voters.
The Trump presidency has heavily damaged itself in the first 10 or 12 days in a remarkably fast manner. But it still remains capable of doing immense damage to the social fabric, to the military, to our alliances and to whatever goodwill to the Unites States that still exists.
Whether his critics were right or wrong is irrelevant.
It’s because the Heritage Foundation and others on his team knew he was going to win because the fix was in. They knew their many voter repression laws would allow them to toss millions of ballots, mostly black and Latino, who usually vote Democratic.
He even admitted it when he told a crowd that he didn’t need their vote. So they knew long in advance that there was almost no way he’d lose. So they spent many months dreaming up and authoring Project 2025. You know, the one Trump said he knew little about and what he did know he disliked because it was “too radical”.
So everything was set up in advance: all the executive orders and the other plans to dismember the government and our democracy. Trump didn’t have to review anything. He just had to sign. And sign. And sign.
Nevermind that virtually every executive order broke some law or violated the constitution. Nevermind that most of his “orders” require congressional approval. He went ahead with them anyway, knowing the GOP in congress are too cowardly to do anything about it.
I have so many thoughts about this. For context, I’m from Denmark. I consider myself pretty well educated. I’ve enjoyed watching USA descend down into depravity with morbid curiosity and here’s my two cents.
USA seems deeply flawed in a number of different ways, granted most countries are, but America is special in the way it seems completely blind to the rest of the world and has no context for how things could be.
I respect the attempt to “rip everything out and start over” approach that Trump seems to be trying to do. Only problem is that Trump is genuinely a moron. Before you rip something apart, the alternative should be ready to go. If not, at least change things slowly.
Make the government more efficient? Good deal. Get rid of some bureaucracy. Seems good.
Encourage more production in America by introducing tariffs? Can work if done slowly, if done correctly. Might even actually lower prices.
Doing all of the things, with complete impunity and chaotic ruthlessness at the same time was never going to work.
Wait, he wants to invade Canada, Panama, Greenland and now Gaza? That doesn’t seem right. Also won’t lower prices on milk or eggs for the average American. Also “drill baby drill” simply wont work. Gasoline prices might still go up.
And he’s throwing shade at air traffic controllers when initial reports suggests that it was the military helicopter not doing what it was told to do.
Firemen too.
Let’s not forget that fake crypto-currency with his name all over it, that conveniently enough made him a lot of money at the expense of everyone who “invested”.
Trump might actually be a marketing genius, however he does not have the interest of the common, working class American at heart. He never did. He seems to like money. His own money and his billionaire friends getting even richer.
He’s being refereed to as a Weapon of Mass Distraction, or a Dictator. He’s probably a bit of both, with Megalomania on top.
Lean back, ignore the obvious rage bait traps. What’s he actually doing?
He seems to want to rip the functional government apart. He can’t get reelected after this term, so kick enough people out and replace them with his own cronies might ensure that he can stay in power. Forever, or until he kicks the bucket.
It seems that he doesn’t know anything, about anything. He’s simply determined and charismatic.
He also seems to have a disturbing respect for Dictators. Then there’s the criminals he pardoned and that one time where he urged American people to storm a government building. Not to mention the various lawsuits and criminal investigations against him.
He needed this presidency, desperately, and when, (or if), it ends – he’s going to jail. Might lose most of his finances too. He has to stay in power and will do everything possibly to stay in power.
I’ll admit there were a few more options on the Bingo Card that I just didn’t see coming and couldn’t possibly have predicted. Like threatening to invade allied countries.
From his first term it was obvious that the last term, after which he can’t get reelected, would be worse. I just underestimated how badly it would actually go.
The stuff he’s already been doing is fit for a super villain. A mockery of democracy, the birth of a Dictator. The not very subtle attempt at keeping the media distracted and the masses poor and stupid.
His last term just started, he still basically has 4 more years to go. Assuming the rules don’t suddenly change so he conveniently stays in power.
Now I’ll sign off and go eat some reasonably priced eggs and continue watching with more morbid fascination.
