I may just copy and paste that first paragraph as an email excuse for the holiday invites... Living in FL (uber-red) we at least had some reliance on the unconstitutionality (state and Fed) clap-back from the courts as P2025 was/is implemented here--that is gone. Gone as well is any motivation to 'fight' right now--and I think that is both what is expected and already countermanded. I don't see any community building. People are hustling to 'go back to normal' after Covid, after storms, after elections and that is what got us here. Need to think 'outside the box' or watch it all collapse as DOGE coin collectors gloat on their 'earnings'. I imagine that infighting will cause further rifts (just got notified that Gaetz report was released) and that may take out the frontline, but if you have suggestions on how to hope (because religion is highly compromised), please share. I am hopeful you will continue to share these cogent pieces, teach, and keep you and family well.
Thanks for your ongoing work, and especially this piece. You've captured a number of the reasons why we need to regard the second Trump administration with much greater concern than the first. You've also correctly challenged the "this isn't unusual for democracies" and "but we've survived 248 years and seen worse" contingent -- however erudite, studied, and serious -- who I believe are wrong and are putting all of us at risk.
Those of us who believe in democracy, diverse and egalitarian civil society, and the just application of the rule of law are going to need to quickly sort out short and long term actions to counter both the potential and actual actions of Trump 2.0 and the other people and organizations on the right and far right that want to use it to remake the United States.
Almost a side point, the world is no longer within living memory of major world-scale disasters- major wars, depressions. Chronic pessimists aside, everyone living is predisposed to believing "it's just history, we're past all that". We have spent 80 years building supposed guardrails against the events of the last century, most of which have shown deep flaws- Israel shrugs off the UN, Russia is undeterred by NATO, international financial institutions are... doing what, exactly? (not an economist!). Locally the Republicans have played the flaws in our archaic government like a virtuoso. There are no guardrails for induced climate change. We're due.
The Heritage Foundation is well-funded and professional. They’ve worked for forty years to be in this political position. It feels like the Broligarchs just came to the party. If there’s ever enough infighting to derail this, it might be between THF elites and the Broligarchs. (!!?!!)
You’ve written what I’ve been thinking and warning about for four years. No one took me seriously. I was labeled “an anxious woman”. Also “just a stupid woman who has no idea how government works”. See the pattern? Being a woman automatically made my opinion, and the research I backed it up with, stupid, worthless and due to my feelings (anxiety).
On a larger scale those who should have busted their asses preparing for this did little to nothing. Biden was/ is useless, his approach culminating in donning a MAGA hat for laughs; garland is 100% complicit in paving the way for trump to return; Roberts & the other five trump lapdogs made sure he’s protected by law for every atrocity. And the rest of the Democrats? Just look to Pelosi - the supposed leader. No preparation whatsoever. The future of America only matters to her insofar as her corporate and individual donors keep lavishing her and the other Corporate Democrats with money and perks.
Now that you have laid out what is going to happen, write as detailed an article on what those of us who fought against what’s coming can do. And please spare us the Churchill mantra “never give up” which everyone is quoting right now. People need real, concrete things they can do to avoid sinking into absolute despair which leads to inactivity and worse. What now?
Please excuse my tone towards the end of my comment. I meant no disrespect by saying “do this” and “don’t do that”. I meant to add in the word please to each request but forgot my manners due to writing that at oh-dark-thirty and being in severe pain from a ruptured disc that’s pressing directly on the sciatic nerve root. I mention that medical issue specifically because the trump cult’s disrespect & disregard for women has been infecting our society since 2015 and is now rapidly increasing. That includes within the VA. In my case a hateful nurse practitioner has gleefully denied surgery for my military connected spine injuries all because he can and is enabled in doing by the increasing misogyny at the local VA hospital that goes straight to the medical director. For 13 months both have said “you can live with it” even though I’ve had multiple medical tests that show the very real damage. Their view is that women don’t belong in uniform therefore we don’t need medical care even though we earned it with our service and the injuries suffered because of that service. It is pure misogyny and outright cruelty. As Adam Serwer said and wrote a book titled “The Cruelty is the Point”. It’s only going to get worse - for everybody.
Thank you for this clear-eyed assessment. I doubt there will be mass protests, people are too discouraged and frankly, too worried about threats of violence. I don’t know what to do anymore.
The only crack of light I can see is that they will screw it all up so badly they will be gone in 2028. That is not assured by any measure but there is time to assess the possibility along the dark way forward.
I think you make some really good points here and I’m very much on board with this will be far worse than the first go around. In fact the dems should have done so much more in fortifying our institutions. The signs and cracks were there. Hoping with his administration picks, they’re all so narcissistic that they’ll never get anything done.
The only real chance I see for preserving a republic is to act before Jan. 20 via executive order to invoke martial law and declare both Congress and the Supreme Court dissolved in favor of reconstitution under the outcome of a duly held Constitutional Convention. It is madness to allow a transfer of power to the Trump regime given its stated intention to use democracy to end democracy.
I disagree with Michael. Writing this down does have value. Even if only to you to help you sort through things.
Biden won’t do this because he was the absolute wrong choice in 2020, has always been a Corporate Democrat and has checked out already. Need evidence? Look at the photos of him donning a MAGA hat for laughs and grinning while welcoming a fascist, racist, bigoted rapist to the White House. Is he looking for ways to save our oligarchy? Nope. Just like he promised Putin NATO wouldn’t bring troops to help Ukraine, just like he gave Netanyahu full verbal support for a full genocide and the weapons to make it happen, he has already promised to smoothly hand over power to trump and his Republican Fascist Party.
I was wondering if anything at all could be done. I appreciate you posting this. Now I know there is, even if it won’t be.
I am in agreement with what you've written. The right is better prepared this time, but you're looking at them as if they're "normal", rational, logical, ideological players and they aren't. They operate the same way Trump does; they're not good at governing; they're good at insults, power grabs and financial gain. They'll bend the knee to Trump, or obfuscate, in public, but in private it'll be The Lord of the Flies IRL. They'll engage in political sabotage, backstabbing and a flood of leaks to the press. Instead of legislation, they'll do committee investigations and hearings and they suck at it. They won't want Musk and Ramaswamy (M&R) playing co-Presidents, and trying to take away their power and leverage. Trump is a lame duck from day one, and they all know it. The Senate already chose Thune instead of Scott. If Trump's agenda starts to hurt the economy, Republicans up for re-election know they'll pay the price not only with voters, but with their donors, while Trump and M&R won't. Exxon said it wasn't in favor of stopping investment in alternative energy because it has a lot invested in that area. CEOs don't want their industries harmed. Construction, agriculture and the service industries will be decimated if Trump begins to deport a large number of immigrants. If they build detention camps you're going to get NIMBY. Big Pharma doesn't want RFK, Jr messing with their profits and no one selling food wants him involved in food "safety". Tariffs will hurt everyone, fuel inflation, raise prices and lower consumer spending and confidence. This is cynical, but always follow the money and there won't be a pandemic to blame this time. I think this time around the resistance will be quieter, more an inside job. We should shift our focus to the local and state levels, even in Red states, and help those who'll be most vulnerable and work for more Blue votes. I believe that most of Trump's idiotic nominees will probably be confirmed, but they'll be on full humiliating display as Democrats show them for who they are and gear up for "We told you so" moments. Gaetz' ethics report will be leaked if not directly released because most Republicans in the House hate him. While they don't believe in country over Party, they pretend to be the Borg in public. At the end of the day, they're self-centered. Many in government will retire, resign, ask for transfers out of D.C., and others will go into bureaucratic "survival" mode - delay, move paperwork around, bury paperwork, hide in jargon, keep asking for more specific written instructions, refer things to legal, hide behind vague regulations, smile and do as little as possible to advance the agenda. The nominees will have no idea how to deal with the bureaucratic wall when they encounter it and their arrogance will make things worse for them. Yes, they may have "better" seconds in command, but they won't be experienced people who know how to do these jobs or how to get things done. I'm a retired academic and a very long-term associate dean in a business school. You can't get any better than a PhD for knowledge, but most of them couldn't administer their way out of paper bag. While they love titles, they hate administrative work - it's complex and boring, and it doesn't get you the face time with the MSM. Trump will play golf, hold rallies and grift; he'll take imagined credit for everything; he'll lie and he'll fire his people when anything goes wrong. Trump thinks he has loyalty through fear, but real loyalty is earned. Trump will be the aging crime boss, who's having mental and physical health problems surrounded by the hungry and greedy capos who are at each other's throats while they smile and say supportive things. It will be ugly and hurtful. They will make the 2017 tax cuts permanent but I don't see them doing a lot more until the 2026 mid-terms. Their character flaws can be used against them and will be their undoing.
Agree with all you've noted. Nearly 50% of the votes cast in the 2024 election opposed Trump. There's power in that number. Watch what's happening in the states, and in localities.
Sadly, I concur. As someone who protested the Reagan admin in the 80s, this coming administration fills me with the kind of dread I have never felt. My 20 yr old self could have never imagined the US falling so steeply and so quickly. I would have never guessed that it was in America that Arendt's famous words would cut deepest. There is, as your article notes, a convergence. The Trump Republican party has freed itself from the shackles of 'conservatism'. It has no 'adults' but rather a full compliment of 'crackpots and fools' readied and willing to do Trump's bidding. He is replacing 'talent' with loyal and wholly unqualified sycophants in key cabinet positions. He has done the hard work of commandeering the Judiciary and given life to Nixon's then failed words, 'when a president does it, it means it's not illegal', he surpassed the barrier of the Constitution's 14/3 clause, openly stole classified documents and walked away unscathed, and he has tested the boundaries of the institutions and social norms he plans to collapse. The election has granted him the House, the Senate and the SCOTUS. He has no barriers come January 20, 2025. In addition, thanks to 30+ years of manufactured ignorance, he has an electorate that neither understands, nor seems too worried about what is coming. They have been subdued thanks to Fox/Musk et al. The Democratic Party, always lacking in willingness to accept or confront Trump's worst impulses, is sorely ill equipped to fight in any meaningful way. And the lack of power they will have for the next two years at least, only makes it worse. The 'demos', if you will, presents little threat as you have argued. New Trump Judges will reshape what is left of the judiciary. Even as these last 60 or so days tick away, the D's aren't rushing to confirm democratic judges, Sotomayor won't step down leaving room for any RBG debacle, and Thomas and Alito will safely be replaced by 40 something judicial doormats. Musk's X is already a haven for the worst actors helped by a friendly 'algorithm.' FOX and their copycats will intensify. Whatever is left of the fourth estate, it will become the new fringe. Trump has already commenced with the attack on the free press, launching frivolous lawsuits against CBS and the NYT. The point isn't to win, it is to subdue them. And once reshaped, getting back the old America, even with all its warts, will be a tall order indeed. I don't think many have thought this through, but it will begin to resonate when they become the targets of the autocrat. Autocracy is the real Trickle down; eventually it trickles down to you or someone near you. And that always happens.
On January 20, 2025, the US will become a dictatorship. Dictatorships never end well and they never voluntarily cede power. Trump will remain the de facto American führer for as long as he breathes. If there is an election in 2028, it will be a farce that Democrats (no matter who they nominate) simply cannot win.
The only ways dictatorships end are: major defeat in war (e.g., Argentina in the Falklands war), major economic contraction (e.g., Chile under Pinochet), highly environmental/health catastrophe that the government only poorly responds to.
Oh, BTW: We can forget about responding to the climate and energy emergencies, we meaning both the US and the rest of the industrial world. We are headed right straight for 3 Deg C world, a world where modern civilization simply cannot exist. So what we have in front of us are inevitable global wars as nations and blocs fight for remaining minerals, fossil fuels, arable lands, fresh water, survivable climate conditions.
Is it possible to get the audio through a podcast app? And/or could you put it in the "Is this democracy" feed?
Yes. (though I don't think Nietzsche meant this)
I may just copy and paste that first paragraph as an email excuse for the holiday invites... Living in FL (uber-red) we at least had some reliance on the unconstitutionality (state and Fed) clap-back from the courts as P2025 was/is implemented here--that is gone. Gone as well is any motivation to 'fight' right now--and I think that is both what is expected and already countermanded. I don't see any community building. People are hustling to 'go back to normal' after Covid, after storms, after elections and that is what got us here. Need to think 'outside the box' or watch it all collapse as DOGE coin collectors gloat on their 'earnings'. I imagine that infighting will cause further rifts (just got notified that Gaetz report was released) and that may take out the frontline, but if you have suggestions on how to hope (because religion is highly compromised), please share. I am hopeful you will continue to share these cogent pieces, teach, and keep you and family well.
Thanks for your ongoing work, and especially this piece. You've captured a number of the reasons why we need to regard the second Trump administration with much greater concern than the first. You've also correctly challenged the "this isn't unusual for democracies" and "but we've survived 248 years and seen worse" contingent -- however erudite, studied, and serious -- who I believe are wrong and are putting all of us at risk.
Those of us who believe in democracy, diverse and egalitarian civil society, and the just application of the rule of law are going to need to quickly sort out short and long term actions to counter both the potential and actual actions of Trump 2.0 and the other people and organizations on the right and far right that want to use it to remake the United States.
Almost a side point, the world is no longer within living memory of major world-scale disasters- major wars, depressions. Chronic pessimists aside, everyone living is predisposed to believing "it's just history, we're past all that". We have spent 80 years building supposed guardrails against the events of the last century, most of which have shown deep flaws- Israel shrugs off the UN, Russia is undeterred by NATO, international financial institutions are... doing what, exactly? (not an economist!). Locally the Republicans have played the flaws in our archaic government like a virtuoso. There are no guardrails for induced climate change. We're due.
The Heritage Foundation is well-funded and professional. They’ve worked for forty years to be in this political position. It feels like the Broligarchs just came to the party. If there’s ever enough infighting to derail this, it might be between THF elites and the Broligarchs. (!!?!!)
You’ve written what I’ve been thinking and warning about for four years. No one took me seriously. I was labeled “an anxious woman”. Also “just a stupid woman who has no idea how government works”. See the pattern? Being a woman automatically made my opinion, and the research I backed it up with, stupid, worthless and due to my feelings (anxiety).
On a larger scale those who should have busted their asses preparing for this did little to nothing. Biden was/ is useless, his approach culminating in donning a MAGA hat for laughs; garland is 100% complicit in paving the way for trump to return; Roberts & the other five trump lapdogs made sure he’s protected by law for every atrocity. And the rest of the Democrats? Just look to Pelosi - the supposed leader. No preparation whatsoever. The future of America only matters to her insofar as her corporate and individual donors keep lavishing her and the other Corporate Democrats with money and perks.
Now that you have laid out what is going to happen, write as detailed an article on what those of us who fought against what’s coming can do. And please spare us the Churchill mantra “never give up” which everyone is quoting right now. People need real, concrete things they can do to avoid sinking into absolute despair which leads to inactivity and worse. What now?
Mr Zimmer,
Please excuse my tone towards the end of my comment. I meant no disrespect by saying “do this” and “don’t do that”. I meant to add in the word please to each request but forgot my manners due to writing that at oh-dark-thirty and being in severe pain from a ruptured disc that’s pressing directly on the sciatic nerve root. I mention that medical issue specifically because the trump cult’s disrespect & disregard for women has been infecting our society since 2015 and is now rapidly increasing. That includes within the VA. In my case a hateful nurse practitioner has gleefully denied surgery for my military connected spine injuries all because he can and is enabled in doing by the increasing misogyny at the local VA hospital that goes straight to the medical director. For 13 months both have said “you can live with it” even though I’ve had multiple medical tests that show the very real damage. Their view is that women don’t belong in uniform therefore we don’t need medical care even though we earned it with our service and the injuries suffered because of that service. It is pure misogyny and outright cruelty. As Adam Serwer said and wrote a book titled “The Cruelty is the Point”. It’s only going to get worse - for everybody.
I apologize for not remembering my manners.
I keep wondering what to do too - even if we all refused to work and shut the economy down they will do what they fully intend to do - doomed
Thank you for this clear-eyed assessment. I doubt there will be mass protests, people are too discouraged and frankly, too worried about threats of violence. I don’t know what to do anymore.
The only crack of light I can see is that they will screw it all up so badly they will be gone in 2028. That is not assured by any measure but there is time to assess the possibility along the dark way forward.
What can we do?
I think you make some really good points here and I’m very much on board with this will be far worse than the first go around. In fact the dems should have done so much more in fortifying our institutions. The signs and cracks were there. Hoping with his administration picks, they’re all so narcissistic that they’ll never get anything done.
The only real chance I see for preserving a republic is to act before Jan. 20 via executive order to invoke martial law and declare both Congress and the Supreme Court dissolved in favor of reconstitution under the outcome of a duly held Constitutional Convention. It is madness to allow a transfer of power to the Trump regime given its stated intention to use democracy to end democracy.
I disagree with Michael. Writing this down does have value. Even if only to you to help you sort through things.
Biden won’t do this because he was the absolute wrong choice in 2020, has always been a Corporate Democrat and has checked out already. Need evidence? Look at the photos of him donning a MAGA hat for laughs and grinning while welcoming a fascist, racist, bigoted rapist to the White House. Is he looking for ways to save our oligarchy? Nope. Just like he promised Putin NATO wouldn’t bring troops to help Ukraine, just like he gave Netanyahu full verbal support for a full genocide and the weapons to make it happen, he has already promised to smoothly hand over power to trump and his Republican Fascist Party.
I was wondering if anything at all could be done. I appreciate you posting this. Now I know there is, even if it won’t be.
That dog won't hunt. I hope it makes you feel better to see it in print because it has no other value.
I am in agreement with what you've written. The right is better prepared this time, but you're looking at them as if they're "normal", rational, logical, ideological players and they aren't. They operate the same way Trump does; they're not good at governing; they're good at insults, power grabs and financial gain. They'll bend the knee to Trump, or obfuscate, in public, but in private it'll be The Lord of the Flies IRL. They'll engage in political sabotage, backstabbing and a flood of leaks to the press. Instead of legislation, they'll do committee investigations and hearings and they suck at it. They won't want Musk and Ramaswamy (M&R) playing co-Presidents, and trying to take away their power and leverage. Trump is a lame duck from day one, and they all know it. The Senate already chose Thune instead of Scott. If Trump's agenda starts to hurt the economy, Republicans up for re-election know they'll pay the price not only with voters, but with their donors, while Trump and M&R won't. Exxon said it wasn't in favor of stopping investment in alternative energy because it has a lot invested in that area. CEOs don't want their industries harmed. Construction, agriculture and the service industries will be decimated if Trump begins to deport a large number of immigrants. If they build detention camps you're going to get NIMBY. Big Pharma doesn't want RFK, Jr messing with their profits and no one selling food wants him involved in food "safety". Tariffs will hurt everyone, fuel inflation, raise prices and lower consumer spending and confidence. This is cynical, but always follow the money and there won't be a pandemic to blame this time. I think this time around the resistance will be quieter, more an inside job. We should shift our focus to the local and state levels, even in Red states, and help those who'll be most vulnerable and work for more Blue votes. I believe that most of Trump's idiotic nominees will probably be confirmed, but they'll be on full humiliating display as Democrats show them for who they are and gear up for "We told you so" moments. Gaetz' ethics report will be leaked if not directly released because most Republicans in the House hate him. While they don't believe in country over Party, they pretend to be the Borg in public. At the end of the day, they're self-centered. Many in government will retire, resign, ask for transfers out of D.C., and others will go into bureaucratic "survival" mode - delay, move paperwork around, bury paperwork, hide in jargon, keep asking for more specific written instructions, refer things to legal, hide behind vague regulations, smile and do as little as possible to advance the agenda. The nominees will have no idea how to deal with the bureaucratic wall when they encounter it and their arrogance will make things worse for them. Yes, they may have "better" seconds in command, but they won't be experienced people who know how to do these jobs or how to get things done. I'm a retired academic and a very long-term associate dean in a business school. You can't get any better than a PhD for knowledge, but most of them couldn't administer their way out of paper bag. While they love titles, they hate administrative work - it's complex and boring, and it doesn't get you the face time with the MSM. Trump will play golf, hold rallies and grift; he'll take imagined credit for everything; he'll lie and he'll fire his people when anything goes wrong. Trump thinks he has loyalty through fear, but real loyalty is earned. Trump will be the aging crime boss, who's having mental and physical health problems surrounded by the hungry and greedy capos who are at each other's throats while they smile and say supportive things. It will be ugly and hurtful. They will make the 2017 tax cuts permanent but I don't see them doing a lot more until the 2026 mid-terms. Their character flaws can be used against them and will be their undoing.
Agree with all you've noted. Nearly 50% of the votes cast in the 2024 election opposed Trump. There's power in that number. Watch what's happening in the states, and in localities.
Great, hopeful comment, Patricia Jaeger.
Sadly, I concur. As someone who protested the Reagan admin in the 80s, this coming administration fills me with the kind of dread I have never felt. My 20 yr old self could have never imagined the US falling so steeply and so quickly. I would have never guessed that it was in America that Arendt's famous words would cut deepest. There is, as your article notes, a convergence. The Trump Republican party has freed itself from the shackles of 'conservatism'. It has no 'adults' but rather a full compliment of 'crackpots and fools' readied and willing to do Trump's bidding. He is replacing 'talent' with loyal and wholly unqualified sycophants in key cabinet positions. He has done the hard work of commandeering the Judiciary and given life to Nixon's then failed words, 'when a president does it, it means it's not illegal', he surpassed the barrier of the Constitution's 14/3 clause, openly stole classified documents and walked away unscathed, and he has tested the boundaries of the institutions and social norms he plans to collapse. The election has granted him the House, the Senate and the SCOTUS. He has no barriers come January 20, 2025. In addition, thanks to 30+ years of manufactured ignorance, he has an electorate that neither understands, nor seems too worried about what is coming. They have been subdued thanks to Fox/Musk et al. The Democratic Party, always lacking in willingness to accept or confront Trump's worst impulses, is sorely ill equipped to fight in any meaningful way. And the lack of power they will have for the next two years at least, only makes it worse. The 'demos', if you will, presents little threat as you have argued. New Trump Judges will reshape what is left of the judiciary. Even as these last 60 or so days tick away, the D's aren't rushing to confirm democratic judges, Sotomayor won't step down leaving room for any RBG debacle, and Thomas and Alito will safely be replaced by 40 something judicial doormats. Musk's X is already a haven for the worst actors helped by a friendly 'algorithm.' FOX and their copycats will intensify. Whatever is left of the fourth estate, it will become the new fringe. Trump has already commenced with the attack on the free press, launching frivolous lawsuits against CBS and the NYT. The point isn't to win, it is to subdue them. And once reshaped, getting back the old America, even with all its warts, will be a tall order indeed. I don't think many have thought this through, but it will begin to resonate when they become the targets of the autocrat. Autocracy is the real Trickle down; eventually it trickles down to you or someone near you. And that always happens.
On January 20, 2025, the US will become a dictatorship. Dictatorships never end well and they never voluntarily cede power. Trump will remain the de facto American führer for as long as he breathes. If there is an election in 2028, it will be a farce that Democrats (no matter who they nominate) simply cannot win.
The only ways dictatorships end are: major defeat in war (e.g., Argentina in the Falklands war), major economic contraction (e.g., Chile under Pinochet), highly environmental/health catastrophe that the government only poorly responds to.
Oh, BTW: We can forget about responding to the climate and energy emergencies, we meaning both the US and the rest of the industrial world. We are headed right straight for 3 Deg C world, a world where modern civilization simply cannot exist. So what we have in front of us are inevitable global wars as nations and blocs fight for remaining minerals, fossil fuels, arable lands, fresh water, survivable climate conditions.