“When a nation has a fool for its leader, mockers and the scornful dance in the daylight without fear of rebuke.” Efal Revillot, 16th century Spanish philosopher.
If you can recall the first turbulent presidency of Donald Trump wherein he was a firehose of misinformation, outright lies and deprecating comments on anyone who checked his public comments, you are in for a real treat starting January 20, 2025.
On that date, history will be made when Trump, with malice aforethought, begins his systematic bludgeoning of American jurisprudence, the rule of law and basic principles of international decency and alliances.
Trump, never a one for displaying any innate knowledge or intelligence that would make a mother proud, wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico…the Gulf of America!
Never mind that the Mexican Gulf was a body of water so named before any Gringos came to these shores, it is sufficient for Trump to simply see something and then say something and let the consequences fall where they may.
Show me where I am wrong, but I do not think any country, past or present, has their knickers in a twist because the Gulf of Mexico’s name is so patently offensive that they are obsessing over renaming it to fulfill any manifest destiny ideas rolling around in their heads.
Now when Trump starts puffing out his chest and threatens to take back the Panama Canal and to threaten the sovereign country of Denmark that their possession of Greenland is up for grabs to the country that can rattle its saber louder than its owner, watch out!
When Trump burps out that the is thinking about making the nation of Canada the fifty-first state, America has slid into the Twilight Zone.
And all of this being said before Don The Con is even sworn in as president.
And don’t forget, Trump’s has possible cabinet choices that have stated that they are focused on the ‘enemies’ of Trump who they see as the enemies within.
Such is what happens when political mutants rule the village, and the innocents are held in check when they protest the rantings of a narcissistic moron.
But, not to worry you say. You blithely contend that the guardrails will hold his excesses in check, and all will right itself in the months after his coronation.
Oh, the innocence and joy of being a newborn babe in the woods!
Truth be told, with a feckless Congress ready, willing and able to do his draconian bidding and a US Supreme Court that has lost any measure of respectability, any shame game will not slow America’s seemingly slide towards an autocratic government.
Too many factors over the past decades have brought this confluence of ignorance, apathy, and bigotry to the forefront, that those who stand up and speak out are characterized as the Deep State or the Far Left Misérables.
Suffice to say that unless there are political corrections in the 2026-27 elections in Congress, America is in for some tough sledding to keep this nation Intact and functioning as a free and fair democracy.
With the overwhelming influence of social media as sources for factual news and with certain of its billionaire’s oligarch class shedding off any semblance of fair and accurate reporting on their platforms, the nation’s schools need to beef up its curriculum in civic courses, logic and public speaking so that future graduates will have the tools to critically analyze issues and understand what makes government work.
Too many churches have severe cases of laryngitis when it comes to being a moral force for good and to remind the nation of the concepts of right and wrong and to love thy neighbor (well, at least like them!).
Trump’s stream of consciousness thought social media releases, parading as news, only confirms that the man is wandering or “weaving” through his thought processes as if they are the statements of a stable genius (what he calls himself).
About half of the American voters pulled the lever for a convicted felon and adjusted sexual abuser as their leader. Go figure!
It will take Herculean efforts by both old and new grass roots organizations to resuscitate their efforts and march as one towards a goal of re-taking local State Houses and Congress so that there is a real alternative for voters in the upcoming elections.
We live in interesting times.
Lafe Tolliver, Attorney
comments to: tolliver@junoc.om
