Welp...

I'm not shocked by Donald Trump's victory in yesterday's Presidential election. Disgusted, yes. But not surprised.

He already won once, after all. And he barely lost four years ago. Aside from his rabid cult of supporters, incumbent governments all around the world have been systematically rejected by voters on account of anger over post-pandemic inflation and supply chain issues, so it's no surprise that the same dynamic would play out in the United States. If Joe Biden had not stepped aside for Kamala Harris, or if Ron Desantis or Nikki Haley had been the Republican nominee rather than Trump, the margins would probably have been even worse. 

Donald Trump is a twice-impeached, adjudicated rapist, convicted felon, insurrectionist, malignant narcissist and pathological liar who is in severe cognitive decline and who is on a grievance-fueled rage. Apparently none of that mattered to the American voter. 

Whatever the final margin, the American people have returned this blatantly, dangerously unfit man to power. In the end, nothing mattered. Not the sexual assaults, the frauds, the lies, or the felonies. Not the raw bigotry of his campaign; not the insults, nor the threats. In the most graphic terms imaginable, the American people were warned of the danger. His previously loyal vice president refused to endorse him; his top general called him a ‘total fascist’; some of his closes aides and cabinet members described in detail his erratic character and his indifference to the Constitution.

Come January 20th, Donald Trump will once again become President of the United States. The incompetence, subterfuge and chaos that defined Trump's term will likely be replaced by a more targeted campaign of nativism, reactionism and retribution. He will be empowered by a Republican-controlled Congress for which extremism is no vice. 

Ego-driven tech bros like like Elon Musk will be in charge of our economy and conspiracy-peddling nutjobs like RFK, Jr will be in charge of our healthcare. The Federalist Society will be loading up the federal judiciary with right-wing extremists and the Heritage Foundation will be free to implement their christofascist Project 2025 agenda. 

There will be a nationwide abortion ban, mass deportations, a gutted federal civil service, and inflation-inducing tariffs. Ukraine will be abandoned, NATO will be forsaken, the Affordable Care Act will be dismantled, and the climate crisis will be ignored. Re-emboldened right-wing militias will patrol our streets and Trump's political opponents will be persecuted. And if anything happens to the 78-year-old man, Vice President and fanatical patriarch J. D. Vance will be ready to take over and carry on with the cause. 

This nation has sleepwalked into authoritarianism because egg prices were too high. A lot of people who are currently celebrating today will likely be changing their tune many months from now, as Trump's "policies," such as they were, take effect. By then, I fear, it might be too late.

Dark and ugly days are ahead of us, folks. I need to start making plans about my future, and whether it involves continuing to live in this nation as it descends into the abyss.

As I said: I am disgusted.