It’s been a while since I have posted on this blog. Two years plus to put a point on it. Quite frankly I have been taking care of my wife while she prepared for the next journey. She passed over to that realm this spring. It has taken a bit to get me to worry about something else. Nothing has seemed as important since she began that journey without me.
Even the 2024 Presidential election hasn’t been a top priority and that is saying something from a political junkie such as myself. Still the election has come and passed. The right candidate didn’t win. She was a leader without criminal stain or stink well versed in politics and foreign policy. That is such as it is. While I predict events will happen of which I strongly disagree, the country will get through them. In what condition I do not know. But we will get through.
My issue with the election results is more with the re-election of Trump than the shift towards the New Republican Party. My issues with Trump’s election are more towards the man than his ‘concepts’ of policies. To be blunt, he is a terrible human being with no morals. Watching him on television is akin to watching soft porn. He seems totally unaware that his makeup is ghastly. He talks as if he is getting ready to suck a dick. He is old and carries every tenant of age in his carriage. His ego insists he is still a ‘catch’ even though the only charm he still carries is the weight of his wallet.
Yes, he is narcissistic to a level reserved for sociopaths. His only measure of quality is wealth and power. Trump weighs every action against what he gains and him alone. Watching him even on television makes one step back from the stench he creates in his actions and his reality. You can just smell the odor even when not in his actual presence. Presently what makes him worse is he is a convicted felon and an acknowledged rapist. Both are hardly virtues for a job that is supposed to represent the best of the United States citizenry. Simply put he does not and can not represent the people of the United States.
I personally do not think Trump will finish his term. Natural death or dementia will take its toll, maybe both. Trump has dementia. Take it from one who has taken care of a dementia patient. His ramblings, lack of clear thought, anger, and forgetfulness are mid-range symptoms of his disease. Not all dementia follows the same path. Each is as different as the person that has the disease. However, almost all have the same symptoms at some point or other. That is a commonality of the disease no matter who it is.
Trump will get aphasia. Aphasia is an inability to understand or express speech. When he gets it is unknown. But I would guess sooner rather than later based on his recent speech patterns and the length of time he has had dementia. If he follows similar aphasia conditions, he will get very angry first and lash out. The very fact he cannot control what he says and make clear thoughts will scare and frighten him. He will do multiple things to try and prove to himself and others he is still competent. Many of those things in his position could be violent to many others.
His staff will try to cover for him. After all, position, wealth, and power are in play. But eventually, no matter what efforts are made, they must succumb to the understanding he is ill and cannot lead. A President that cannot speak is no President at all. In that event his cabinet will remove him and put in Vance. Trump is scary enough, but Vance is an author of Project 2025. He is a Project 2025 believer. Fortunately, he is not Trump. While he is intellectually superior to Trump (aren’t we all) he does not have his money or his charisma. Vance will be lead, told, and expected to respond to demands. He will resist and insist he is important. But he will ultimately fail.
What I really cannot stand of Trump though is the constant lying. Since he is President, news organizations and late-night shows will once again be dedicated to explaining what he really meant or fact checking everything. It is tiring. The drama, the anger, the hate that spews from the very existence of his time in office. It would be nice if the news and shows would just put a weekly summary of all the discord instead of the daily and hourly updates of his ramblings. I for one will not be paying any more attention to this. I will be tuning him and his administration out as much as possible. It is just too exhausting, and I have better things to do, like watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons on television.
This leads us to what to expect from the next few years. Chaos, anger, hate most probably. What I most fear from Trump is who he places in the administration. Who will be his lackey at the Department of Justice? Who will he appoint to the Supreme Court? There’s where the real damage will be done.
I am not really worried about what is passed by a New Republican Congress. They will of course cater to Trump. But they have their own agenda in the Senate. There will be immigration reform as long as Trump gets to build his wall. Other than being an economic boondoggle, the building of the wall won’t really matter. It will never be finished. It is too long and has too many state’s jurisdictions to fight. When the new congress takes office in 2026 if one of the houses turn Democrat, it will cease to be funded.
Extending tax breaks merely means more of the same. We as a country can afford it. We are affording it now. What it ultimately means is new programs to help the middle class and poor will not be funded. Nor will we pay down the deficit. The rich will get richer and hoard even more cash.
Mostly the emphasis will be on New Republican agenda items, few of which hurt the country. They just take us in a different direction. A direction that favors those that have over those that do not. None of which cannot be undone by a new Congress in 2026 or 2028. Believe me it takes a long time to get things passed into law in Congress even when you have a majority in both houses.
The boogeyman will be there, those of deportation and ending the Affordable Care Act. I don’t doubt. These are mean and vindictive people. Still repealing the Affordable Care Act without putting in place a similar plan or better plan that keeps the provision of not allowing pre-existing conditions would be suicide for the New Republicans. The more sensible in the party recognize this is a popular plan and would work to prohibit such a result.
As for deportation, it will probably be part of the new immigration act. That act will probably build upon the one already proposed. After all, now that Trump can get credit for the law, he sees no problem in implementing it. Deportations will happen at an increased rate. But they will be limited by funding. As much as they would like to do, finding and transporting 10 to 12 million immigrants is not an easy or inexpensive proposition.
The new term will be chaotic, crazy, angry, dramatic and in many events, sad. Because we did not have to be here. We could have elected someone that was competent and capable. But here we are. Get ready for the ride. I will take more than a few personal hits, I believe. But I will not dwell on what I cannot change. I will work to elevate myself above what may come and insulate myself from as much damage as may happen. There is little I can do or want to do now. Much of my years of fighting are behind me. I believe I have earned a bit of peace in my life. But I plan to do what I can, when I can, and still vote for the people and policies that I support. It is up for the next generation to lead the fight and the changes. My time is short. What I have left I will enjoy and that means ignoring in all possibilities Donald Trump and his antics.
Douglas Courtney
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