It sure is gonna take some fixing but really, how bad is it? The only measure we have is the recent past. I know to the so-called Millennials 2001 seems like a lifetime ago because to them it has been a lifetime but in reality it's a very pertinent part of living memory. There's a lot of similarities. We had a prominent figure of a very popular previous administration denied elected office by what could be described as underhanded tactics. The economy was moving forward at a steady but slow pace. We were being told that pace was a dire circumstance so tax cuts for the well off would seem palatable, The poor were leeches and the military needed more financial commitment. Remarkably similar.
What mattered was what happened in the ensuing few years. We abandoned any semblance of fiscal responsibility or restraint. We were attacked. We started out attacking the right country only to almost laughably bungle that. We followed up by irrationally attacking the wrong country. We killed nearly a million totally innocent people and destabilized the Middle East for at least two generations. We normalized and employed torture as a national policy and to this day there are elements in our society that think people objecting to that totally unacceptable idea are somehow suspect. There are people who believe noticing obvious evil is somehow unmanly or unpatriotic. In the meantime the executive branch had been rendered totally ineffective in responding to emerging natural calamities.
That was all topped off ten years ago by a financial collapse that exposed every so called "conservative" financial idea and policy to be just so much nonsense. The recovery has featured standard liberal economic ideas proposed and implemented by both parties. There is no debate it worked. There is, as always, debate as to whether it has worked fast enough.
Where are we now? So far we haven't killed anybody but Trump sure is threatening a bunch of people. He sure would torture people but we have a remarkable shortage of potential victims. He's attempting to abandon fiscal responsibility but that'll be fixed directly. ( See Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez) The deficit has skyrocketed. The poor are still leeches and the military has gotten even more than it's dreams of avarice. Doing mischief to health care is dead in the Congress and the rest will be in the courts for years. Certainly long enough for cooler heads to prevail. The executive branch is back to being incapable of realistically responding to natural disasters.
Internationally our reputation is back in the toilet. People just don't like this guy much. You could say it's good they seem to be working things out on their own. Obama wanted to curb our influence by toning down and stepping back. Trump is eroding our influence merely by pissing just about everyone off. In the end not much of a difference in result and you do have to admit it's kinda funny watching Trump get the cold shoulder from the Queen. The Brits know a parvenu when they see one.
Economically, things seem Ok but it does kinda have a 2006 feel to it. The emphasis on deregulation has stayed away from the financial; markets, so that's a good thing.
It is true that formerly undesirable elements of our society have been emboldened and to some extent normalized. However, the major impact seems to have been the mobilization of the Angels of Our Better Nature. That's a good thing.
So, the guy is unpleasant and every bit as unfit as advertised.
All in all I'd say, just wait it out and enjoy the show but don't be silent. These are necessary national debates we should have had long ago. It's time to assert our educations and our upbringing. It certainly is time for the Angels of Our Better Nature to get some necessary exercise. A lot of people are worried there has been a coarsening of society. People who a few years ago would have remained silent feel free to repeat what they think they've heard from the President. The dog whistle effect is very powerful.
Frankly, a large part of this has no real impact if you're a white guy other than just being offended and maybe worried for the future but what if you aren't white? What if you're a member of one of the myriad of minorities being targeted by the dog whistle? You would have to rightfully feel your life and membership in society hadn't been just lessened but that you had been assaulted in a uniquely personal way. That's quite simply an outrage.
So, to date the guy sure is offensive but nowhere near as destructive as Bush. That sure doesn't seem like much but it is something.
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