In 2016 after Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the presidency, I was shocked. I cried, I had trouble sleeping, and I suffered from what was basically panic attacks for days afterwards. This time, I was more prepared for the possibility of a Trump victory, so right now I'm not as shocked. But I'm actually more worried about the future of this country than I was then.
I still can't believe it. A twice impeached president who sent a mob to the nation's capitol after he refused to accept his loss has now won a second term. Part of the reason he won is that the numbers already show that the female voters who appeared ready to vote for Kamella Harris failed to do so. You would think a man who once bragged about grabbing women by their genitals, who has been credibly accused of sexual assault or rape by 28 women, and who put the judges on the supreme court that overturned Roe Vs Wade, wouldn't appeal to female voters, but here we are. A majority of white women have voted for him every time he has run, proving, I suppose, that race matters more than gender.
If Trump does the things that he has promised to on the campaign trail, the next four years are going to the some of the ugliest in American history. Here's just the worst parts of his coming agenda:
A mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants unlike any seen before. Demonizing undocumented immigrants, whom Trump has referred to as "vermin" has been Trump's big issue since the beginning. His plan to use state, local and federal law enforcement officials to hunt down the undocumented, house them in camps, and then deport them, will cost billions of dollars to implement, rip families apart, and seriously damage the economy. (A recent story in the New York Times said that the dairy industry is so dependent on undocumented labor the dairy industry in the country might not survive without it).
He wants to put a tariff on all imported goods of 20% and on ones from China at 60%. Nearly every economic expert says that Trump's tariff plan would cause prices on goods to skyrocket, hurting the poor and the middle class more than the rich. And, of course, many of those countries will start putting their own tariffs on our exports, hurting our industries. He would also make his massive tax cuts for the rich that he passed in his first term as president permanent, blowing a hole in our deficit.
He wants to turn the Justice Department into his own personal vendetta outlet. In recent weeks Trump has discussed turning our military against "the enemy within", specifically meaning his political opponents. Now just how far he'll be able to go with what is essentially a fascist attempt to jail political party members for no reason other than running against him before the courts stop him is debatable. But the fact that the question is even raised is terrifying.
He has talked about turning massive parts of our nation's health regulation over to anti Vaccine extremist Robert Kennedy, who's desire to ban all vaccine mandates for children could bring diseases like polio back. He wants Elon Musk to run an efficiency task force to cut federal waste. It should be pointed out that Twitter had a value of over 40 billion when Musk bought it a few years ago, and its current value is under 10 billion. Oddly, Musk himself has admitted that his attempt to cut waste might cause some "hardships" in the short term. How heartening!
He would undo all the good work the Joe Biden administration has done to encourage a green economy and proudly boasted that he would open up vasts areas of the country for more oil drilling. He would do this in the face of more and more obvious effects of climate change happening all over the world. It would also allow China to take the lead in developing green energy, which will be a huge growth industry in the future.
He has also said that he would end the war in the Ukraine in one day. While that's impossible, what he clearly will do is cut all aid to the Ukraine and try to give Vladimir Putin whatever he wants. Which would basically open the door to Putin invading other countries. But what does Trump care about that? He's threatened to withdraw from NATO too. And he has encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do whatever he wants concerning the horrific bombing in Gaza.
These are just a few of the awful things that Trump will try to do in his next term: it's an agenda of corruption, cruelty, unhealthiness and economic disaster. The fact that tens of millions of Americans have voted for this is appalling to me. I am so deeply disappointed with this country right now.
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