The Threat is Real

Many good folks are doing their best to deal with the horrendous results of Tuesday’s election, and there is a lot of rationalization going on. “We survived two Bush Presidencies, we’ll survive this one,” “What Trump said during the campaign isn’t necessarily what he’ll do in office.” “Trump won and we need to get over it and move on. It won’t be as bad as you think.” We all need to deal with this tragedy in a way that works for us, but in my heart of hearts I do believe this election is different. It’s for that reason I’ve pulled back from commenting on social media and responding to the rationalizers. Based on his campaign speeches, his past, and the people he associates with, I believe Trump is a true threat to this country’s future.

As a senior less than two years from retirement, Trump’s attacks on Social Security and Medicare have me very worried. Millions of America’s elderly will be adversely affected by toying with two programs that have truly been success stories, but Trumpites see them as socialist experiments which means it doesn’t matter if they work or not, they have to either go or be privatized. And these are only two of numerous government programs that could be on the chopping block during the next administration.

Yes, we will survive Trump, but that line of thought isn’t very comforting. Europe “survived” World War II. Japan “survived” two nuclear bombs. A Trump administration will not be “business as usual,” and to pretend that is so is to bury one’s head in the sand. Trump has no respect for the Constitution of the United States or democracy, for that matter. As his campaign clearly demonstrated, he is an authoritarian at heart who will not allow tradition or the rule of law stand in his way.

The rationalizers will call me Chicken Little, running around blubbering about the sky falling. That isn’t so. My purpose here is to make two simple observations: The Trump Administration will be a real and present threat to American democracy, and because of that, we the people must be prepared to step out of our comfort zones, to make sacrifices, to push back against those who will attempt to deny our guaranteed constitutional rights and turn this once great nation into a third-world Banana Republic.