Tom Nichols Author of The Death of Expertise |
The moment every Donald Trump opponent has been waiting for is at hand: Joe Biden seems to be taking the lead. So why am I not happy?
I am certainly relieved. A Biden victory would be an infinitely better result than a Trump win. If Trump were to maintain power, our child-king would be unfettered by bothersome laws and institutions. The United States would begin its last days as a democracy, finally stepping over the ledge into authoritarianism.
A win for Biden would forestall that terrible possibility.
But no matter how this election concludes, America is now a different country. Nearly half of the voters have seen Trump in all of his splendor—his infantile tirades, his disastrous and lethal policies, his contempt for democracy in all its forms—and they decided that they wanted more of it. His voters can no longer hide behind excuses about the corruption of Hillary Clinton or their willingness to take a chance on an unproven political novice. They cannot feign ignorance about how Trump would rule. They know, and they have embraced him.
I am certainly relieved. A Biden victory would be an infinitely better result than a Trump win. If Trump were to maintain power, our child-king would be unfettered by bothersome laws and institutions. The United States would begin its last days as a democracy, finally stepping over the ledge into authoritarianism.
A win for Biden would forestall that terrible possibility.
But no matter how this election concludes, America is now a different country. Nearly half of the voters have seen Trump in all of his splendor—his infantile tirades, his disastrous and lethal policies, his contempt for democracy in all its forms—and they decided that they wanted more of it. His voters can no longer hide behind excuses about the corruption of Hillary Clinton or their willingness to take a chance on an unproven political novice. They cannot feign ignorance about how Trump would rule. They know, and they have embraced him.
Continue reading @ The Atlantic.
Trump got 3 million more votes than he did at the last election. A truly shocking fact.
ReplyDeleteTerry,
DeleteNot really. When you consider he basically threatened corporations to return to manufacturing in the US and create jobs it's unsurprising. As much as he is odious he got a lot of people back to work and low level workers wage increased at the same time. I've friends with businesses in the US and because of the tax cuts Trump pushed through for small to medium business they were able to hire more full time people.
How Biden deals with this is the real question. Will he push through with reforming the economy or take backhanders as has been shown with the Ukraine/Russia?
How can Joe Biden rerach out to the "stolen election" and "stab in the back" constituencies without appearing to appease their nefarious beliefs?
ReplyDelete