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It is Jan 2017, and much to his surprise, Donald Trump has been elected President and now occupies the position described as the most powerful in the world. “OMG,” says he, “what the f__k do I do now?”
Till 2017 Donald Trump was nothing more than a businessman/celebrity–successful enough in real estate to amass a small fortune and unsuccessful enough as a businessman to have declared bankruptcy six times. Sporting nothing more than an ego the size of the Grand Canyon, he had neither an agenda nor any political ideology to guide him. His goal was little more than to feed his megalomaniac tendencies by acting powerful—whatever that might mean—and to find enough time to play golf and watch TV after his largely ceremonial duties were fulfilled.
All his life he had been the single decision maker for a moderate sized organization, had never really read up on or understood the principles of democracy or the workings of the US government, and faced a politically savvy Democratic Congress that was fully ready to oppose him at every turn. He had hired people he thought he could count upon, long-time Republican operatives and highly respected generals. Surely, life-long soldiers such as John Kelley and HR McMaster would be good at carrying out his orders.
But whenever he actually had a thought about what to do, he was constantly frustrated by the reactions from his inner circle. “But sir,” they would say, “you know that you’re not allowed to do that,” or “Sir, I fear that will never work because…” or his least favorite, “But you see, Mr. President, you can’t do that because it’s unconstitutional.”
So he did as much damage as a novice could, and presided as only a fool could over the COVID-19 pandemic. This man of great ego and only supposed-power railed against vaccines and scientific findings. He proposed the use of medications that had proven useless, and even went so far as to suggest the possibility of drinking disinfectant to conquer the COVID virus—after all, said this man of science and high intellect, if it took care of the virus externally, maybe it might do the same internally if you drank just a bit of it.
Then the fool lost the election and took his case that it was all rigged to the public, where he won over the unwashed and the uninformed, and to the judiciary where he lost every one of the well-over 20 cases that were brought. He spent much of the next four years trying to fight off civil and criminal suits that accused him of a range of indiscretions and illegal actions, all the while building up an unbelievably deep hatred of those who had wronged him, with an ever-growing commitment to find ways of using the Presidency to harm, debase, and punish every person and institution that had ever stood against him.
The second time around, Donald Trump was not as naïve as he had been before, and he had a legislature that he knew would not oppose him. He had been tutored over those four years by smart political operatives who knew that they could use the President to achieve their own anti-democratic and selfish agendas while helping him serve his rage. This time when he issued decrees that were clearly illegal or went against the Constitution, his inner circle told him, “Well, sir, that might be technically unconstitutional, but who gives a damn. You’re Superman and you can do anything you want.”
Trump II is so much scarier and dangerous than Trump I. Trump II has found that revenge feeds the ego better than any drug, that it feels so good to know that he can intimidate any person or institution he pleases—just ask the folks at Columbia University who folded faster than a house of straw at the hands of the Big Bad Wolf.
Will a wildly falling stock market reign him in? Will ridiculous tariffs, and eggs going for $20 a dozen lead to bad ratings and a lack of support? For heaven’s sake, I’m not sure what might rob him of his super powers.
My only hope: Kryptonite. I hear they might be selling it at Costco.
