rodoheel
Iconic Member
- Messages
- 1,850
I dunno. I continue to believe that the biggest long-term threat to our country is our population's steady descent into cynicism and belief that the system is rigged, all politicians lie, the government and the people who run it are corrupt, etc. It is these beliefs that lead people to ignore the true corruption and transition to oligarchy happening right in front of their faces, because they believe it's no different than what always happens. Biden can't fix that on his own - whatever he does is a drop in the bucket - but our country is absolutely doomed long-term unless we can get a majority of Americans to pull in the same direction, believe that government can and will be responsible and effective, and reject the false prophets that want to get rich leeching off the American population. And this is the kind of thing that makes that harder, not easier. It is easily misinterpreted by people who don't know as much about politics as an implicit admission of guilt.
In at least the short term, here's how I see it politically. I think one thing that Trump's first term showed is that there is still a group of people somewhere in the realm of "swing voters" (though I hate that term and believe it's misleading) for whom some things are too much. They may not have been swayed by Trump talking tough about immigration, but they were swayed by pictures and videos of innocent kids being forcibly separated from their parents and essentially detained. They may not have been swayed by talk about a "Muslim ban" but they were swayed by the images and stories of people being trapped in airports, unable to go anywhere or see loved ones because of a stupid and callous policy. They may not be particularly enamored of "Black Lives Matter" or Democratic street protest movements, but they didn't like seeing American protestors tear gassed and beat up in the streets so Trump could have a photo op.
These people may not care about rhetoric about "Prosecute Fauci" and the "Biden Crime Family," but they may care when they see a public servant like Fauci or random members of the Biden family harangued for illusory crimes. This may be a crappy way to look at things, but some of these people won't accept that Trump is what we say he is until they see the cruelty and the viciousness actually hurting someone. From a political perspective I think it would have been a huge mistake for Trump to actually have people like that prosecuted. Just like I think it will ultimately hurt Trump to have people like Kash Patel in charge, because he's eminently unlikeable and the more people see of him (and the crazy things he says and does) the more they'll hate.
It might be too late for our country either way; it's possible we're already too far gone and don't fully realize it yet. But I choose to believe we can still save ourselves and get the moral arc of the country (and hopefully the universe) titled back in the right direction without too much more misery and destruction and bloodshed. And to do that I think some people need to see the stark reality of the hate and revenge that Trump has promised in the abstract. if things are just a little bit worse for the next four years, a lot of people will just shrug their shoulders and continue to be convinced that it doesn't really matter who the president is.
