By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
Well, the election is over. The angst as to what happened and why will continue for years to come. The blame game is now in full overdrive with the media talking heads, podcasters, armchair strategists and the daily variety of certified nut cases all pontificating as to what should have happened.
Donald Trump will be sentenced next week by Judge Merchan regarding the hush money cases and in which, he is always playing the victim, will not receive any jail time or substantial penalty for his 34 felony convictions.
The time-honored concept of no man is above the law is now relegated to the dust bins of judicial history since any other person with 34 felony convictions would face harsh penalties if no more than ankle bracelet monitoring.
So let’s be honest, Donald Trump sprinkled magic fairy dust on the American judicial system and to date, the dust has worked on his behalf. The civil cases against him can proceed and even those cases will drag on and on until the American public’s short memory will kick in and Donald will use those time lapses to profess his innocence.
Unless you have been locked in a cave in Outer Mongolia for the past two-plus years, you have failed to notice that Trump, with an axe to grind against anyone who did not genuflect in his presence, both real and imagined, will commence his reign of retribution.
Project 2025 outlines in graphic detail the inner workings of his convoluted thinking as to him still professing to be a populist and which, by his account of said definition, makes him a man of the people!
I contend that once Trump and his clown car of woefully inept stooges gain the levers of power, only then will America start to see the pain and misery he will blanket the US of A.
Trump will appoint a bevy of similar thinking people in critical federal positions who will be more than happy to fulfill his every wish of retribution for being shunned by the voters who in 2020 voted for Biden.
Understand. Trump is not a bright person or a critical thinker by any means.
The able people who were around him during this first term in office and who later left or were dismissed, all described him in terms of intellect as being woefully deficient.
Understand. That Trump is able and is only able to execute his draconian policies because his “base” holds similar anti-intellectual views; they also display a cornucopia of hate, rage, racism and a profound ignorance of government and how it is supposed to work…For The People!
So when you watch his upcoming coronation (I will not be watching the farce on TV) and hear his repeated promises to immediately initiate his border policies and tax cuts for fat cat corporations and billionaires, be forewarned that America will be in a political crisis for years to come.
It is no small thing to state over and over again that democracy will be the entree that Trump will carve up and also slice and dice the federal bureaucracy which is the engine of daily governance.
When ICE and other agencies start their immigration removal program and innocents are caught up in it…so what.
When needed federal programs are either eliminated or their needed funding cut that would service the down and out…so what.
When Trump uses the media to castigate and wrongfully characterize those who oppose his draconian plans…so what.
If and when he releases the so-called political prisoners of the January 6th Insurrection who were convicted of crimes against the government…so what.
When he is silent on voters’ rights being suppressed and continues the fake campaign to rid the government and military of “wokism” and “DEI”…so what.
And whatever you may believe about the recent election, Trump did not receive his so-called “mandate” to reign and rule as he so pleases.
That “mandate” will be his cover story to try to convince you that the majority of Americans sought out an authoritarian to govern them because they were frightened of the brown masses coming into the states, and the price of eggs catapulted them to vote for an extremist like Trump.
The columnist Elie Mystal who writes for the magazine, The Nation, put it simply that America, in the final analysis, voted to keep white skin privileges as their guiding star and Trump and Elon Musk (a South African) decided to join themselves at the hip and slow down any progressive political movement.
So, when you see the above examples (many, many more) come to fruition, simply recall who you voted for any why and if you are negatively impacted by Project 2025 and its progeny…oh well, deal with it.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at tolliver@juno.com