Is it too early to think about the Post Trump era? No... we must do so.

I am an advocate for unrelenting pressure on the Trump regime, because public pressure matters even in autocracies. And also unrelenting pressure on legislators, including Republicans, to see how lawless it is, and he is, and press for impeachment and removal from office. Gradually, people will awaken from the cult and realize that they must stand against it.

But let’s face it, impeachment is a long shot. The most likely scenario is that Trump is a wounded vulture masquerading as an eagle, and he gradually becomes less and elss effective. His executive orders, which, newsflash! do not have the force of law, will be paid less attention. The courts, pushed up to and over the brink by his recklessness, will defy him, and the Zeitgeist will shift. Wait! I’m describing the bad scenario? Yes, actually. I do think we’ve crossed a line with the barely 40% approval he stands at now. He will not be able to pull off an authoritarian coup. But. He has done, and will continue to do, terrible damage to our place in the world (already pretty much trashed), our economic power, even our image of military might, as a nation. The dollar is permanently weakened. American debt is permanently less desirable. These things have serious consequences. But, the bad news is, unfortunately, we are likely stuck with him until Jan. 20, 2029.

So, what then? What will Post Trump America be like? It could be an early 30s style depresssion, with shades of pre-Nazi Germany, but I rather doubt it. North America is well positioned geographically and in terms of resources. With actually good management, we can recover a base level of functioning economy and reasonable prosperity pretty quickly, I believe. Probably more on the level of Spain or Italy than what we were under Biden, except of course on a much larger scale. But here’s the thing. We will have a great opportunity, with the Republican party renedered feckless and a long term minority, (which I think will happen), to reform the electoral process, admit a couple new states, get rid of gerrymandering once and for all, reinforce the rights in the constitution and permanently reduce the ability of any president to rule unilaterally. Fix the way Congress works so the majority party cannot simply stop legislation from even getting to a vote (that will be hard because it will temporarily be against the political interests of Democrats). But, mainly, and most importantly, bring about a huge Depression-style infrastructure initiative to remake our industry, our transportation, our energy supplies, everything, with Climate mitigation as the primary goal, and industry and government working together. A Green New Deal indeed, at last. Restore global trade, taking our place as a partner, not an overbearing dominator. A rosy scenario? Of course. But if we don’t imagine what we want, and wrok like hell to get it, we will fail. If we do these things, we just might succeed, although realistically, it will take a long time; perhaps a whole generation. We have to look beyond the Trump era to a new deal for America that will enable us to take our rightful place as a democratic country astride the most advantaged continent on Earth. Not the world’s only superpower or policeman, but a proud and powerful nation of a free people that respects human rights and is building prosperity that can be sustainable, and shared with a world gradually coming together to deal with the greatest environmental crisis in history. And, lo, not so long after he is gone, Trump will be pretty much forgotten. A blot on our history; easily the worst president we ever had, who tested the limits of checks and balances and almost destroyed our democracy, but ultimately failed to do that. A regime that set us back a decade or more. But we will need to make the best of the situation, even derive advantages from it, and emerge a strong, democratic, and reliable partner in a world where war is unthinkable and the task at hand consumes all of the world’s attention and available resources.

So, ultimately, I am optimistic. America can be battered, damaged, even irrevocably changed, but it can also reform itself, rebuild itself, and thrive. We have natural advantages that other countries can only dream of. So we will emerge not victorious, but alive and well, and able to recover and move on.