When people say things are good in the USA, there are so many angles to that (environment, equality, opportunity, etc., etc.). But, let’s start with the most basic…I know people that are primarily focused on economy/money (with the tangential nods to security, etc.) When were things not “very good” in the recent past? You’d probably have to go back to 2007-2009 with the recession, right? Barring that period when we were digging out of that, compare Obama and Trump’s numbers. When I have asked some people to do that, showing them a non-partisan chart of Obama v Trump, they blamed the investigations for slower growth. (But, remember, Mitch McConnel virtually shut down government to prevent any Democrat initiatives in 2010, declaring that his main objective was to prevent a second Obama term. Much like he has done since 2018.)
But isn’t that the point? When we have someone unhinged as this President is, someone who thinks they can do anything, acts like- actually aspires to be – an autocrat, this is what happens. He brought virtually all of this on himself. Yes, Democrats got their panties in a wad and made some things worse. Should he have been impeached, maybe, maybe not. But what he did was reckless, and wrong. Even many of the senators perched tightly up his asshole have said as much. He didn’t provide any documents, any witnesses, etc. He – they, the people around him – knew that what he was doing was a problem and immediately tried to – depending on their loyalty to either the government/country/rule of law, or to a man – a) raise red flags, or b) cover their tracks.
Everything he used to say and still does about America under Obama (they are laughing at us, they don’t respect us, etc.) wasn’t happening then, but is now. He wasn’t perfect, and Trump isn’t 100% wrong. But the long-term damage he is doing will come back to haunt us for years. And for all this hysteria about “socialism,” we’ve given nearly doubled our farm subsidies due to this tariff war. A concept he barely can articulate without glaring factual errors.
People I know, business-minded people, talk about the future, and innovation, and how President Trump will pave the way for this to happen. But, he has consistently denounced alternative energy sources, while engaging in a futile attempt to prop up a dying industry (coal). It just doesn’t add up.
One friend of mine in particular speaks often of a global economy, but there are more types of economy than just financial. There’s an economy of trust, of relationship building, of supporting our allies. This has been eroded. There’s the economy of honor and responsibility. He is pardoning war criminals. He had a fake charity, one that stole money meant for veterans (!!!!). He’s a charlatan. A snake-oil salesperson. A pathological liar with narcissistic personality disorder who doesn’t care about the real America, or its people, top to bottom, left to right. He and his family saw this as an opportunity for them and the people he wanted to impress. He is drunk on power and shows it in his fawning over dictators.
I get that politics is theater, and that no one person is the sole reason for anything, good or bad. I also understand why an uneducated, misinformed, dogmatic swath of the populous would support him. I do not, however – cannot – fathom how educated, informed, measured citizens can continue to support him unless it is out of misplaced fear, personal greed, xenophobic hatred, or some mixture of those elements. (I suppose the fourth element could be religious dogma – I know religious fundamentalists and staunch pro-lifers are ignoring his literal cardinal sins because they are holding out for a reversal of Roe v Wade.)
Either way, it’s maddening. It’s surreal. It’s disorienting. It’s sad.