The United States is about to become a different kind of country.
By: David Frum (The Atlantic)
Above all, we must learn to live in an America where an overwhelming number of our fellow citizens have chosen a president who holds the most fundamental values and traditions of our democracy, our Constitution, even our military in contempt. Over the past decade, opinion polls have showed Americans' faith in their institutions waning. But no opinion poll could make this shift in values any clearer than this vote. As a result of this election, the United States will become a different kind of country.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The United States is about to become a different kind of country.
Donald Trump has won, and will become president for the second time. Those who voted for him will now celebrate their victory. The rest of us need to prepare to live in a different America: a country where millions of our fellow citizens voted for a president who knowingly promotes hatred and division; who lies—blatantly, shamelessly—every time he appears in public; who plotted to overturn an election in 2020 and, had he not won, was planning to try again in 2024.
Above all, we must learn to live in an America where an overwhelming number of our fellow citizens have chosen a president who holds the most fundamental values and traditions of our democracy, our Constitution, even our military in contempt. Over the past decade, opinion polls have showed Americans' faith in their institutions waning. But no opinion poll could make this shift in values any clearer than this vote. As a result of this election, the United States will become a different kind of country.
When he was last in the White House, the president-elect ignored ethics and security guidelines, fired inspectors general and other watchdogs, leaked classified information, and used the Department of Homeland Security in the summer of 2020 as if it were the interior ministry of an authoritarian state, deploying U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Coast Guard "troops" in American cities. Trump actively encouraged the January 6, 2021, insurrection at our Capitol. When he left the White House, he stole classified documents and hid them from the FBI.
Because a critical mass of Americans aren't bothered by that list of transgressions, any one of which would have tanked the career of another politician, Trump and his vice president-elect, J. D. Vance, will now try to transform the federal government into a loyalty machine that serves the interests of himself and his cronies. This was the essence of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, and its architects, all Trump fans, will now endeavor to make it become reality. Trump will surely try again to dismantle America's civil service, replacing qualified scientists and regulators with partisan operatives. His allies will help him build a Department of Justice that does not serve the Constitution, but instead focuses on harassing and punishing Trump's enemies. Trump has spoken, in the past, of using the Federal Communications Commission and the Internal Revenue Service to punish media organizations and anyone else who crosses him, and now he will have the chance to try again.
Read: The Democrats' dashed hopes in Iowa
Perhaps the greater and more insidious danger is not political repression or harassment, but corruption. Autocratic populists around the world—in Hungary, Turkey, Venezuela—have assaulted institutions designed to provide accountability and transparency in order to shift money and influence to their friends and families, and this may happen in America too. This is not just a theoretical threat. As loyalists take over regulatory agencies, filling not only political but also former civil-service jobs, American skies will become more polluted, American food more dangerous. As a result of this massive shift in the country's bureaucratic culture, Trump-connected companies will prosper, even as America becomes less safe for consumers, for workers, for children, for all of us.
American foreign policy will also reflect this shift toward kleptocracy. In his first term, Trump abused the powers of his office, corrupting American foreign policy for his personal gain. He pressured the Ukrainian president to launch a fake investigation of his political opponent; altered policy toward Turkey, Qatar, and other nations in ways that suited his business interests; even used the Secret Service to funnel government money to his private properties. In a second term, he and the people around him will have every incentive to go much further. Expect them to use American foreign policy and military power to advance their personal and political goals.
There are many things a reelected President Trump cannot do. But there are some things he can do. One is to cut off aid to Ukraine. The Biden administration has three months to drop all half measures and rush supplies to Ukraine before Trump forces a Ukrainian surrender to Russia. If there's anything in the American arsenal that Ukraine might successfully use—other than nuclear weapons—send it now, before it's too late.
Another thing Trump can do is to impose further tariffs—and intensify a global trade war not only against China but also against former friends, partners, and allies. America First will be America Alone, no longer Ronald Reagan's "city on a hill," but now just another great power animated by predatory nationalism.
Around the world, illiberal politicians who seek to subvert their own democracies will follow America's lead. With no fear of American criticism or reaction, expect harassment of press and political opponents in countries such as Mexico and Turkey to grow. Expect the Russian-backed electoral cheating recently on display in Georgia and Moldova to spread. Expect violent rhetoric in every democracy: If the American president can get away with it, others will conclude that they can too. The autocratic world, meanwhile, will celebrate the victory of someone whose disdain for the rule of law echoes and matches their own. They can assume that Trump and Vance will not promote human rights, will not care about international law, and will not reinforce our democratic alliances in Europe and Asia.
But the most difficult, most agonizing changes are the ones that will now take place deep inside our society. Radicalization of a part of the anti-Trump camp is inevitable, as people begin to understand that existential issues, such as climate change and gun violence, will not be tackled. A parallel process will take place on the other side of the political spectrum, as right-wing militias, white supremacists, and QAnon cultists are reenergized by the election of the man whose behavior they have, over eight years, learned to imitate. The deep gaps within America will grow deeper. Politics will become even angrier. Trump won by creating division and hatred, and he will continue to do so throughout what is sure to be a stormy second term.
David A. Graham: The institutions failed
My generation was raised on the belief that America could always be counted upon to do the right thing, even if belatedly: reject the isolationism of America First and join the fight against Nazism; fund the Marshall Plan to stop communism; extend the promise of democracy to all people, without regard to race or sex. But maybe that belief was true only for a specific period, a unique moment. There were many chapters of history in which America did the wrong thing for years or decades. Maybe we are living through such a period now.
Or maybe the truth is that democracy is always a close-run thing, always in contention. If so, then we too must—as people in other failing democracies have learned to do—find new ways to champion wobbling institutions and threatened ideas. For supporters of the American experiment in liberal democracy, our only hope is education, organization, and the creation of a coalition of people dedicated to defending the spirit of the Constitution, the ideals of the Founders, the dream of freedom. More concretely: public civic-education campaigns to replace the lessons no longer taught in schools; teams of lawyers who can fight for the rule of law in courts; grassroots organizing, especially in rural and small-town America; citizens and journalists working to expose and fight the enormous wave of kleptocracy and corruption that will now engulf our political system.
Many of those shattered by this result will be tempted to withdraw into passivity—or recoil into performative radicalism. Reject both. We should focus, instead, on how to win back to the cause of liberal democracy a sufficient number of those Americans who voted for a candidate who denigrated this nation's institutions and ideals.
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We live in a degraded society.
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And now:
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It is. Hopefully trump can pull us out of the spiral. Time will tell..
He’s got a helluva mess to clean up.
Like the old saying, "the inmates run the asylum."
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No we dodged that bullet.
The first amendment was on the [ballot][✘]
Who the [removed] are you ?
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BF
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We’ve been here before. He was given a chance and he ended up getting fired by the American people. As a result of his first win, we all got to witness the absolute worst example of leadership. Kids in cages, treating a massive public health risk like a common cold, embarrassing the country on the world stage, cozying up to dictators to the point that his own current running mate called him Hitler, and countless other claims to infamy. This is a cult, and Americans have fallen hard for it. It will certainly be worse this time around, and every sane American has good a reason for the pit in their stomach right now. If his tariff policy were true, he would have done it in his first failed presidency. Even Elon has told us that our lives are about to become financially harder, because he knows the obvious. We are all in for a rough ride.
Trump was defeated by a 100 year pandemic in 2020. Nothing more.
His response was pathetic. A 100% total lack of leadership, keeping in line with so many other ways he lacked any ability to lead in a positive direction.
I stand corrected. He was also defeated by the most concentrated media and partisan character assassination campaign in recent memory.
The resist movement. Now we will have resist 2.0. It’s already begun but sadly. American spoke yesterday and the resistance can kiss our ass.
Enjoy your gloating while it lasts. When Trump voters start feeling the effects of what they did, it will stop being so funny.
I think trump lost the popularity contest to a more likable candidate, who doesn't like Grandpa Joe? if he wasn't suffering from dementia to the point where the elitists decided to force him out, he would be re-elected today IMHO.
lol ….. gloating? You mean like all y’all in 2020? Now there was some serious gloating
Nope, you forget. The Trump admin crushed development of COVID vaccines. The triggered were never going to credit him with anything good. Never will. Prior to COVID both the country and economy were kicking ass and many of the triggered were actually pissed off about it.
Covid doesn’t happen. Trump wins in 2020. By a landslide.
Half the country is either demented or turns a blind eye to it.
Trump said last night that he is going to bring the country together. What country, cause it sure as hell isnt America.
The mainstream media is already bowing to him, social media is filled with commentary like from the useless New York Times saying that Democrats have to adjust to a new reality.
Seriously, fuck that.
Donald Trump tried to overthrow our government, and did nothing but lie about it for the next four years. Now he will never have to answer for it in a court of law, and will take action against the people who uncovered his crimes. If this is America, may god have mercy on us.
And THAT type of attitude is precisely why...........
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Certainly a big part of it
You support someone who tried to overthrow our government. Your ignorance of the facts doesnt change them.
“Trump said last night that he is going to bring the country together.”
No, he said he was going to try. How successful do you think an effort will be with attitudes that we see on nt? I give it 0 chance of succeeding no matter how hard trump tries.
“The mainstream media is already bowing to him”
you must not be watching msnbc right now, lol.
“New York Times saying that Democrats have to adjust to a new reality.”
that’s actually good advice.
”Donald Trump tried to overthrow our government,”
Good thing he used unarmed citizens such as ordinary everyday people and grandma’s, grandpa’s, huh?
Calling that a fact is about as far out in left field as one can get.
Nobody tried to overthrow the government. He himself did nothing but give a speech that told his supporters to protest peacefully and patriotically. What the idiots that broke into the Capitol did on their own.
He also used legal means available to him to challenge the results, but rightfully lost each time.
Democrats try to change the presidential vote every four years for about the last couple of decades by challenging certain states.
I think it is time to recognize that democrats are just as bad, if not more, guilty of trying to overthrow an election than Republicans are.
I'm just waiting on Raskin to try some stupid shit...He will regret it politically.
That's fucking laugh out loud hilarious
A speech
Traitors supporting traitors
Garbage supporting garbage
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AND that's the TRUTH
seen that guy that kept claiming Harris was going to win by 15 million votes?
Funny thing is, she received about 13-14 million votes less than Biden did four years ago.
They just called Michigan for trump, his margin of victory may be greater than Bidens was in the electoral college victory. Edited, i originally said Wisconsin and that was called earlier today.
Michigan called as well. Trump wins.
This didn't happen with just his base, It's obvious now that Independents and some of the democrat base broke Trump. The Monday morning quarterbacking is going to be interesting.
Pick your poison.
It would be easier to list what they did right vs what they did wrong
They won't do it that way. They are hell bent on blaming it on someone other than themselves.
Waiting for Hillary 2.0 blame tour to start in a few weeks.
It’s already started. Resist 2.0 but really it never ended …..
The thing that is most surprising to me is trump is still 5 million votes ahead of Harris, I'm sure California totals will balance that out some, but that is a historic turn around if it holds up to any extent at all.
I made the ideotic mistake of believing that, after seeing him in the Presidency once, no one would vote for him ever again.
It is interesting to see that the American populace has such a short memory.
Now, the two term limit is our last bastion of hope. I bet he will be making an effort to get rid of that.
Here is an interesting fact, both times that Trump won, he was running against a woman. This countery is disgustingly misogynistic!
Mal trudges off, ears drooping, tail draging...
“Now, the two term limit is our last bastion of hope. I bet he will be making an effort to get rid of that.”
Care to make a wager on that?
Yep, I’ll take some of that action as well …..
Another "he's going to" claim..........................
God i hope so, a convention of states is what we need, nobody is going to change the term limits for president, but maybe add some for Congress? a balanced budget amendment? maybe get rid of the retarded use it or lose it in budgeting. There are a few changes that could be made.
I've thought and said the same thing
Which means he won’t
Thank-you, Mr. Malamute! I have been thinking that the men in America don't want to be led by a woman. Is it mommy issues?
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Fresh garbage:
lol …. Not familiar with that one …… the song not the garbage.
Best one i have heard today,
Can somebody get this to Kamala?
In all honesty, this is America. This is what America was founded on, has been, and at its core, continues to be. Trump has just put it on the world stage for EVERYONE to see, backed by a nation that believes the same and values the same immoral compass. He's just following the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Like it or not, America is NOT better than this, it is in fact much WORSE, and voters proved that wholeheartedly. Rich folks ran him, the uninformed, unlearned poor elected him and when the screws continue to be turned, don't blame or complain. Just look in the mirror and know that Trump is and represents Y-O-U!!
As far as Project 2025, it began decades ago, mentions following the Constitution and was the Reconstruction playbook. Last updated for the Reagan era / presidency, it is now revised again to include "Woke", "Critical Race Theory", more language on rounding up and eliminating (i.e. exterminating) trans-gender, illegals, "non-Americans", doubling down on overturning Roe v. Wade, eradicating interracial marriages, removing books from libraries, lying about 70% of black kids come from single-mother homes... And these are just a few of the items discussed right off the bat. White male #1, white married female a distant #2 and single white female a very distant #3. Everyone else, well, you know your place and where you stand and if you don't, we'll show you but good. That, my friends, is Project 2025 and America.
I understand this may be too harsh for some but probably not for most given many of things I've read on here, but again, this is what America is and it has finally smacked many of you in the face.
Well the National Anthem right wingers get so worked up about went out the window while Trump was campaigning. Instead of the National Anthem and showing respect for America they opted for the new "J6 prisoner" anthem at his rallies.
We’ll be fine.
We survived the shit show of the last four years.
We’ll survive the next four as well
The electorate wasn't so much voting for Trump as against the radical left progressives. A turn around from 2020.
Actually I was pleasantly surprised that Americans finally said enough to the far left loonies. Hopefully the dems will head more to the center.