He’s back.
It was so cold in Washington, D.C. last Monday that the dystopian spectacle of Donald Trump’s second inauguration was moved indoors, a clear indication that hell really had frozen over.
The supreme irony of this event occurring on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was not lost on at least 50 percent of the electorate. Those of us who stood in firm opposition to a second Trump presidency explicitly turned off our televisions on Sunday night and did not turn them on again until the whole thing was over. Lots of us chose to attend, instead, one of the many celebrations honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King, one of the best people who ever lived, rather than watch the ascendency of one of the worst.
Throughout the past week, I have seen snippets of the inauguration. Melania held not one but two Bibles, neither of which came into contact with Mr. Trump’s hand. I felt sorry for her, frankly. It reminded me of a hostess holding a tray of canapes that no one wants to touch. I have no idea if Mr. Trump simply forgot to place his hand on the Bible, or whether he decided that placing his hand on the Bible while falsely swearing to uphold the Constitution, right before intentionally nullifying the Fourteenth Amendment, might attract the ire of the Almighty.
Although Trump’s modus operandi is to never, ever tell the truth, the threats he made over the past few months and during his campaign were real. During the campaign, when informed of some of Trump’s more inflammatory statements, his supporters typically said, “He didn’t say that,” and then, when shown irrefutable evidence of him saying precisely those things, they said, “He didn’t mean it.”
To those individuals, all I can say is that he meant every word, and he has already begun to make good on every threat. With the stroke of a pen, he declared an end to birthright citizenship.
With the stroke of a pen, he took us out of the Paris Climate Accords… again.
With the stroke of a pen, he terminated Biden initiatives designed to lower the cost of healthcare for ordinary Americans.
With the stroke of a pen, the border was closed, even to those who had scheduled legitimate asylum and immigration hearings. With the stroke of a pen, the arrests and deportations began.
And with the stroke of a pen, he released all of the January 6 insurrectionists, including those who beat the stuffing out of the Capitol Police who were trying to stop them from murdering Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.
He’s back.
He’s back, and this is only the beginning. This is the warm-up; the revenge and retribution presidency has begun. The 50 percent of voters who could not wait to reelect him can now sit back, pop a cold one, and watch the speedy unraveling of American democracy. You bought it, and now we all get to pay for it.
Prepare for some version of the following:
- 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
- The strangulation of the free press.
- The arrests and prosecutions of people who have committed no crimes, unless having a backbone is now a crime, which is not entirely outside the realm of possibility.
- The degradation and defunding of public education—so for all you folks who are the parents of children with disabilities, there will likely be a gradual unraveling of school-based services.
- The further erosion of civil rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights;
- Massive tax cuts for the already rich, paid for by the removal of social safety net programs designed to benefit those who are poor—so be prepared for the reduction or elimination of your SNAP benefits, your Medicaid or Medicare benefits, the price caps on your medications, and your reliance on FEMA to bail you out following a natural disaster;
- The closure of your favorite restaurants because their workers have been deported, and a simultaneous jump in the cost of groceries as crops lie rotting in the fields and meat-packing plants close because all of their workers have been deported, too. If you thought you were paying too much for groceries and housing before, get set for even more sticker shock as the mass deportations and tariffs kick into high gear.
I know that half the electorate cheered the return of their strongman, while half the electorate mourned. But most of the mourners, after a few days of garment rending, keening, and wailing, have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and reentered the fray. Difficult times call for courage and conviction, not fear and capitulation.
For now, my antidote to the tragedy of a second Trump administration is to embrace Dr. King’s example of unity, iron resolve, and peaceful resistance to tyranny. Time will tell whether that notion proves to be fruitful, or whether it will prove to be nothing more than a quaint relic from a bygone era when human decency still mattered.
Stay tuned.
