The Witness Chronicles, 4/30/25
Future gazing
The Next 1360 Days
Actually, try not to think about it
No, I’m not going to document the first 100 days of Trump because I’ve written my observations almost every one of those days and years before that. There are plenty of observers far more qualified than me to document the insanity and try to find patterns in it.
Unfortunately, other than veering into chaos, there are no patterns.
There are over 1300 more days ahead in the second Trump administration, a number that puts this one hundred days story in perspective. And no, I am not going to quote Churchill’s ‘end of the beginning’ metaphor because I have seen it a half dozen times this past week.
We are going to see a lot of predictions about the future in coming days but I cannot see how anyone can predict anything this man and his cronies will do. The actions we have seen so far are exactly what he told us he was going to do.
And he has done it all, in spades, so much so that he has used up his list of things he promised, leaving us wondering just how much worse this can get. Though with Trump, one thing you can’t underestimate what his mind and paranoia will come up with.
Everything has consequences, except in Trump World where, if those consequences are bad, as they have been, you simply deny the truth and make up facts. For example, today when asked about due process for illegals being deported, deportation czar Tom Homan said there are ‘many kinds of due process’.
What the hell does that mean? Homan, who seems to have never heard of compassion, is coming to my hometown tomorrow to congratulate Rochester Police Department officers who responded to an ICE request for backup during an arrest. Those officers handcuffed some of the suspects in violation of our city’s Sanctuary City rules that do not allow the police to participate in immigration sweeps.
Homan and Trump see this yet another opportunity to get publicity out of what seems likely to be a rooky mistake by the officers, but like all their PR moves the facts are conveniently set aside. Homan will meet with the local police union in private and will scoot out of town with no public statements.
Why do the heartless tough guys like Homan fear the public? It is part of a pattern in Republican politics these days. They are chickenshits. There is other word for it. The examples are endless and they follow a pattern. Create a PR event, lie about the truth they claim, and then hide from the public and the media, because after all, they are fake.
The thing we are going to deal with and fight during these coming 1300 days is fatigue as these stories pile up. Sustaining outrage for nearly four years is a big ask and I am certain the Trump regime is counting on it. But what they did not plan is the constant and unrelenting uncertainty as Trump shifts gears wildly in response to negative feedback, markets, and polling.
But there is another reaction they cannot control and it is the direct result of that uncertainty. Average Americans are going to get hit directly and daily with the results of Trump’s actions. Prices, job security, closing small businesses due to trade wars, and a freeze by businesses large and small on any investment.
And then there are the unknown events which inevitably change the direction of Presidential administrations. Wars, pandemics, terrorist acts, even cataclysmic events like the Great Depression. These kinds of events all have something in common as a result of Trump’s actions.
We are not prepared for any of them. The Pentagon is in disarray and paralyzed by incompetent leadership on a scale we have never seen under DefSec Pete Hegseth, who is visibility panicked in every public appearance. Not good if we face a military emergency.
As for pandemics, gutting science and the entire government healthcare system will only make them far worse and harder to defeat as resources no longer exist and rebuilding them is a long process. And we have an example in Covid. Cast your memory back to 2020 when we had no idea what we were dealing with and we had a President whose first reaction was panic about how it would affect his re-election chances later that year.
While he dithered thousands died. But we had a vital healthcare infrastructure in place and they reacted with lightning speed to create and distribute a vaccine that likely saved millions, even as Trump did Trump things to try and manipulate reality rather than getting to work for the country.
Remember the suggestion that we drink bleach?
And then there is that Depression thing, you know, the economy stupid. Most economists think there is a strong chance that Trump’s tariff machinations and constant changes of mind will cause a recession. But what if the results cascade into something far worse? It could happen. All of these things could happen.
And they are completely unnecessary, all of them. But I’ve left something out.
Climate disasters and their longterm effects will multiply the impact of events like these worldwide and this adminstration sees climate change as a non event or, in Trump’s case, an excuse for trying to politicize destruction by withholding federal aid from states that did not vote for him.
If we have a climate disaster that directly affects Trump personally, for example a direct hit by a Cat Five hurricane on Mar A Lago, a distinct possibility, how will he react? Whatever it is, if it is anything, it will be too little, far too late. He may very well find himself trying to joust with a windmill while we all watch.
If any of these dire predictions and scenarios were to take place, and something like them undoubtedly will, we will be unprepared just as the Trump White House will be unprepared. There is a major flaw in Trump’s worldview, many really, but his belief that bad things cannot happen to rich people or powerful people will be tested.
And all of us will be watching and it is unlikely we will be rooting for him to suddenly start acting like a leader because we have no evidence he is capable of that. And we are not getting any.
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Martin
Repugs in general are not prepared for anything. They don't think things through and don't have plans. Remember trump's response during the campaign regarding doing away with the ACA? He had a "concept" of a plan for replacing it. That pretty much details how the whole party operates. Line their pockets first, then they'll see what's left.