Trump 2.0: I'm Expecting the Worst...From Everyone

Politicians, SCOTUS, the Media and the Electorate Let Me Down For the Last Time

Before 11-5-24 BA ( “Before Autocracy”), I was known as “Optimistic Andy”. Well, that naive fucker’s left the building… and Pessimistic Andy’s now in charge.

Because my sad new reality is, I’ve lost all faith in the system. I’ve lost all faith in our institutions. I’ve lost all faith in Congress. In the Supreme Court. With Democrats. With the Republican Party. With the media. And with the electorate. Because I went from expecting the best and preparing for the worst to now expecting the worst, from everything and everyone, and hoping for something just shy of that. 

I will never again apply logic and rational thought to my opinions and expectations when it comes to Donald Trump, Republicans, the Supreme Court. and my fellow Americans. I no longer believe the best in people. I now unfortunately expect the worst in them.

I’ll never again hear myself say foolish things such as, “He’ll do the right thing, She’ll do the right thing. They’ll do the right thing,” Or, “Trump won’t do that because it’ll really hurt him”. Or, “If he does that there’ll be serious pushback and consequences”. Or, “No one is above the law”.

Because for the past nine years we’ve watched Trump do or say whatever the fuck he wants…legal or illegal, moral or immoral, ethical or ethically-bankrupt…while his cowardly sycophants in Congress and the courts roll out the red carpet for him.

In fact, the worse he is, the more outrageously offensive he is, the more dangerous he is, the more corrupt he is, the more popular and successful he's actually become. 

So in these next four years I am expecting the absolute worst from Trump. I’m expecting shameless pathetic cowardly fealty from the Republican controlled Congress. I am expecting Constitutional malpractice from the Supreme Court. I’m expecting a completely neutered, fearful media. And I have serious concerns that even if Trump‘s performance in his next term is utterly dreadful, that his mastery at gaslighting and lying will ultimately convince the cultists…even three years from now…that it’s all Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s fault. And that they will believe him.

Because we truly have entered The Twilight Zone meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Apprentice meets The Walking Dead. It’s an alternate universe where truth and reality can no longer be counted on, especially in upholding the rule of law and holding our elected leaders accountable. 

I am expecting the Senate to confirm every single one of Trump’s cabinet appointments, no matter how incompetent, corrupt and dangerous they may be. I’m also expecting them to grant him the power to make recess appointments, despite such a move collectively snipping off their own balls while subjugating themselves to the King.

I’m expecting Donald Trump to carry out his threats of vengeance against his opponents and perceived enemies. Especially against those who’ve merely exercised their right of free speech against this self-proclaimed protector of free speech. 

I am expecting an unconscionable assault on our nation’s immigrants, and this includes mass deportations (including that of US citizens), detention camps, family separations, and horrible civil and human rights violations.

I’m done hanging my hopes on 248-year-old norms, boundaries and standards for how our government operates. I’m done relying on them for the right thing being done in the end. Trump and the GOP have shattered all of them these last nine years. And now there are zero guardrails. No boundaries. No more norms. That’s all fantasy now. The inmates are now running the prison. Literally. 

I am expecting these next four years to be among the darkest, ugliest chapters in American history.

That said, I’m a strong person. 18 years ago I walked into a room and found my wife brutally murdered. I was left to raise our two-year-old daughter. I got through that, and rebuilt my life, somehow managing to still appreciate life while finding joy and happiness again. That nightmarish experience didn’t break me. It made me stronger. The dark days and despair we’re now experiencing won’t break me either. They will make me stronger as well. And I promise you, the darkness we’re now facing will one day turn to light. We shall all see brighter days again.

I guess Optimistic Andy isn’t gone yet…