Well, it’s my second blog entry so ... I guess it’s time to talk about Trump.
(No! No, Geoff! We don’t wanna!!)
I know, I know. What is there to say that hasn’t been said already, and said ad nauseum? How many different ways are there to express the opinion (fact?) that the 45th president of the United States is a moron, a con man, a fuck up, a coward, a racist, a liar, a cretin, a criminal, a misogynist, an imbecile, a lowlife and all around vile piece of soulless, tapioca-shaped human waste?
But that was yesterday. Let’s talk about today.
The big thing on my mind today is the economy. I believe that everything this lumbering bowl of orange mucus is doing will ultimately prove destructive to the economy. From his unconscionable tax cuts (really? we’re still thinking trickle-down is a thing? really?), to his pointless trade war, to the current government shutdown over his onanistic wall, I think that all the gains we’ve had since the ’08 meltdown will be wiped away and the whole thing is gonna come crashing down hard.
And herein lies my moral conundrum: if the economy crashes, it will do real harm to real people, and no decent person should wish that kind of suffering on anyone -- but it would it also spell the end of Donald Trump. The Fox News-fed rubes who have drunk the Kool-Aid of this cult of stupidity will tuck their tails between their legs and slink away from him, because the wake of fat Nixon’s trail of destruction will finally have touched them.
So I guess the question is: is that too high a price?
Let me start by saying that I would not come out of an economic collapse unscathed: the training business I’ve been rebuilding over the past two years would no doubt crumble, as it did in 2008 when I was an employee of the company. So, yeah. I’ve seen this movie before. The missus's job would probably be safe, but the point is that I've got some skin in the game.
That said, my family would most likely be okay if another recession hit. We've got savings and enough of a family-and-friends safety net that it's highly unlikely we'd ever find ourselves out on the streets. But many others are not so fortunate, as we are already hearing from those affected by the government shutdown. So what right do I have to feel a thrill every time news breaks that the Dow has taken another plunge or that the deficit has seen another spike? Where do I get off feeling upset when a report comes out saying that unemployment is low and X number of jobs were added last month? These are people's lives we're talking about.
This is all part of the existential quagmire imposed by the Trump presidency: those of us that oppose his denigration of the Republic are so desperate to see him expunged that we'll hang on to any news that might help bring him down, regardless of the collateral damage. Then again, maybe some short-term pain (an '08-like recession) is worth it for the long-term gain (the removal from office of this Cheeto-dusted threat to democracy).
Ultimately, an economic slowdown (if not outright collapse) may be just what's needed to ensure that Trump doesn't get a second term. He still enjoys an 80% approval rating among Republicans in spite of the Russians, the porn stars, the shutdowns, the stoking of racism, the cabinet members fleeing like rats on a sinking ship, the pussy grabbing, the ... dear god, how long is this list?
And that's the whole point: nothing he does seems to matter. He wasn't wrong when he said he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any voters. The unwashed masses who have pledged their souls to him really think that he can do no wrong. Or, at least, that the wrongs he does are a small price to pay for the salvation they believe he will bring: salvation from poverty; salvation from despair; salvation from the brown people who must, must, must be responsible for their plight.
Viewed through that maddening lens, it can be tempting to openly wish for a comeuppance for Cletus and Tammi Lynn in the form of an economic collapse landing squarely on their heads. Two problems with that: (1) it's not necessarily Cletus and Tammi Lynn's fault that they believe all this -- they've had Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and the whole Fox News apparatus screaming right-wing propaganda at them for so long that they can no longer separate fact from fiction -- and maybe I should be wishing for their enlightenment more than their comeuppance; and (2) it's not just Cletus and Tammi Lynn who would be affected; it's all of us. Recessions and their accompanying unemployment know no political affiliation.
It seems like an untenable position. Either we hope for an economic collapse in the next two years that will slam-dunk this abortion of an administration, or we cross our fingers that enough cheese eaters in Michigan and Wisconsin will flip their vote or stay home in 2020 to turn those 26 electoral votes blue. Personally, I'd like as much cushion in those votes as possible, even if that does make me a dick for hoping a few people lose their homes.
Bottom line: these are trying times. In the end, none of us are coming out of it clean.
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