De-Trumping

A week before the election, I wrote, "If things turn out as we hope, one week from now, no one will ever need to think or write about Donald Trump ever again.  In losing the election, he will give us back the most valuable thing we want back from him -- the space he now occupies in our thoughts."

Obviously things did not turn out as we hoped.  I still insist on reclaiming that space in my thoughts, however.

At the moment, it's incredibly murky how things have turned out.  The omens are all over the place. Trump has weakened or reversed most of his worst campaign promises, from Obamacare to the Paris climate agreement to nuclearizing Japan to the wall to "locking up" Hillary to the Iran nuclear deal.  The possible membership of his administration team ranges from the horrifying (Bannon) to the baffling (Nikki Haley for UN ambassador) to the pitifully stupid (Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education), while some are almost reassuring -- as Republicans go, we could do a lot worse for Secretary of State than Giuliani or Romney.  Al Gore felt encouraged by his meeting with Trump on climate change, but the proposed new EPA head is just another denialist wingnut.  Every few days Trump says or does something which contradicts something else.  Under these conditions, trying to read every tea-leaf for signs of what the future holds* is not only futile but a recipe for madness.

It could be that hardly anything will change under Trump.  It could be that we'll end up with the full nightmare adumbrated by the worst of his campaign, complete with internment camps and a Gestapo.  Neither outcome, nor anything in between, would really surprise me at this point.  For now, I refuse to fret about it.  There's very little I can do to influence events, and what I can do -- such as supporting the Democratic party and concrete plans of action such as the National Popular Vote initiative -- will be the same regardless of Trump's trajectory.  If and when specific atrocities materialize, such as actual legislation attacking Social Security or targeting particular minorities, I and millions of others will do everything we can to stop it.  But for now, I am not going to obsess about a future whose details are so uncertain, and I'd advise others not to either.  A person has only so much mental energy.  Don't burn yourself out before the real battles even start.

[*For those who can't let go of the obsessive tea-leaf-reading, I recommend Booman Tribune blog, which is at least rational and detailed in its analysis rather than histrionic, and offers plenty of focus on what the left can actually do in response.  If you enjoy anticipatory Schadenfreude, check out Trumpgrets, a new blog showcasing Trumpanzees starting to realize they've been conned.]