The Witness Chronicles, 12/17/24
A cavalcade of Trump dangers, happy Christmas!
Standing Still: Dreadful Politics On Hold
A holiday ahead but Trump is going full steam
This may be a weird observation, but why else do I write this stuff? The week before Christmas the world changes gears, shifting from work mode to travel, buy, cook, entertain, get depressed, family, mode. Take your choice.
But all that creates cover for the stuff the Trump people are doing to ensure his nominees get the votes they need to become serious people. Trump is doing press conferences and acting presidential while the nonsense he is selling hasn’t changed. It just sounds more reasonable until you spend one minute thinking about it.
But my guess is they are betting we don’t spend one minute on it during the hustle and bustle of the season. Think about this: universities across the country are telling their foreign students to either stay here during the holidays, or get back before the Inauguration later in January because they are afraid these students might not be allowed back into the country.
These are not some paranoid individuals, they are institutions of higher learning who seriously think things will get that bad that fast. I’m not sure where they get their information, and I am skeptical of their expertise, but that is a pretty radical response to a new president.
We’re in a strange time, a kind of purgatory where the future is unclear. How far will Donald Trump’s need for revenge reach? Will any Senate Republicans make a stand against his insane choices for leadership in the White House? Where the hell are the Democrats right now?
That last one has been on my mind in recent days. There is a kind of radio silence going on in the Democratic Party right now. No apparent leader has emerged and they seem to be in some kind of collective shock. By the way, they still have power. The Republicans’ majorities in Congress are razor thin and there are undoubtedly some who have serious doubts about the direction Trump is taking things. I honestly hope the Dems are courting them and encouraging them to stand up against this craziness.
Yeah, the hopeless optimist in me is still here, but I need to hear from the people who supposedly represent me in DC. Where is the outrage? People ask me how to resist and my answer has been, wait until they actually f**k up. But I want my Senators and Representatives out there working the back rooms, not decorating the Christmas trees.
We are not dealing with one rogue selection for a Cabinet post, we are dealing with a crowd of them. They are so bad it is actually hard to choose one over another. Kash Patel? RFKJr? A rapist drunkard to lead defense? Tulsi Gabbard, known admirer of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad? Bad timing on that one now that her buddy is hiding in Moscow with her other pal Putin.
Among my many questions, I wonder how the news media will treat these people if they get confirmed? Will they go the NYTimes route and pretend they are normal? That treatment may have helped Trump win, something I hope is on the minds of the editors there.
This is not the time for the press or the politicians to be waffling or maneuvering to get in the good graces of a man with no good graces.
I will say this, Joe Biden is valiantly trying to lock down some of his wins so Trump can’t easily undo them. Unfortunately his communication skills right now are pretty much non-existent but at least he is trying to put up a resistance. He and Mitch McConnell, unlikely bedfellows. McConnell had polio as a child and is outraged that canceling the polio vaccine seems to be on the table with Trump appointees.
There’s crazy and there’s dangerous crazy and that is dangerous crazy.
I’m not much of a Christmas guy but usually can stir up a little holiday cheer, though this year that’s pretty far down the list on my holiday priorities. It’s hard to celebrate when we have a President-elect who seems determined to out-Scrooge Scrooge in his quest for vengeance.
Trump is doing a bunch of interviews and press events and they all seem to be designed to scare the hell out of anyone he thinks wronged him. This man, whenever you think he can’t get worse, steps up and proves you wrong. The pettiness of it all is unending. Happy holidays.
If you live in a red state or have a Republican Congress member representing you, reach out and encourage them to develop a backbone and stand up to this bully. They know the damage he is capable of and there is no excuse for helping him do it. It will only take a few members revolting to stop most of his plans.
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