Okay, it wasn’t the blue wave of our dreams, but we at least got the House. The GOP won’t be able to pass any idiotic thing in the dead of night anymore. The ACA (or what’s left of it) is probably safe for the next two years.
Obviously, we have to double down on our efforts (and select a charismatic candidate) for 2020, but is Trump now less dangerous to America’s present and future?
Or will an opposition-led House somehow unleash him to make things even worse?
No.
The President still controls our foreign policy, our courts, the executive branch, and a vast propaganda network.
The House will prevent him from repealing the rest of the ACA and gutting the social safety net further. But it won’t do anything at all about the other disasters we’ve seen so far and expect–the holocaust in Yemen, dismantling of regulatory efforts to stop climate change, taking over the courts with poorly qualified political hacks, using the military for political spectacle, harming immigrant children for sport, etc.
What will stop or mitigate those things are the same forces in effect for the last two years: the media, popular mobilization, and resistance in the States.
Being a “glass half full” guy*, I’m inclined to go with the latter.
Don’t count your chickens just yet. Many votes were close and results might change once postal votes are tallied.
I’d say less dangerous on a legislative front. But now there’s a government branch with a bone to pick and subpoena power - the Twitter tirades may just be starting.
Depends on “worst.” Now that the Republicans have an expanded majority in the Senate, they’re likelier to ram in a far-right judge to the Supreme Court, should Ginsburg or Breyer depart, than before. They can afford the defection of a few moderate Republican senators (such as Collins and Murkowski) on it.
Mr. Trump his own self claims to think last night’s result was a “Big Victory”. Given the level of delusion that such a statement entails, no, the worst is yet to come.
Just remember a beast is most dangerous when he’s cornered. Trump has always been a master of media distraction, usually by doing something outrageous to distract from the consequences of the last outrageous thing he did. With Congressional Subpeona’s pounding on his door, he is going to try to up his game, and I’m sure Bolton has a lot of ideas as to how to do that.
2016 - the year of the WORST 2 candidates ever in my lifetime - my most proud vote was for Ralph Nader (and my first)… But at least now we have some checks and balances. I’m going to try and avoid watching the news as much as possible, but it’s much easier than staring at that, as opposed to being all in for a great movie.
It would take an absolutely extraordinary set of circumstances for republicans to maintain control of the house at this point. I think they’d have to take every race that hasn’t been called plus several of the races called for democrats. I’ll eat my day-worn underwear if that happens.
No, the worst is definitely not behind us.
Without discussing the possible damage Trump and the Republicans in this Congress can and will accomplish before the newly elected Congress is seated, we can expect the real ugliness to begin as soon as Trump and his Republican Party start feeling pressure from the various investigations now possible from Democratically chaired committees in the House.
Push will as it always does come to shove. The GOP will rally around their president, and Trump will do as he always does; ramp up the lies, precipitate an expanding series of crises to distract and deflect, and find scapegoats to feed the desperate fears of his base.
It’s going to be a long, disruptive, possibly violent two years. The term"transformative" is not always or even usually a positive descriptor for a political era. But that’s the kind of era we’re in. Buckle up.
He may get worse. Opposition enrages him
It’s the end of the unchecked, rubberstamped Trump era, but it’s also the beginning of cornered, desperate Trump era.
I expect the new era to be ugly, outrageous, and discouraging. But I’m quite encouraged that America needed to take difficult steps, and we just took our first one.
Trump will get worse, but we are getting better.
Donald has never in his life experienced checks & balances. He’s not going to take to it kindly. Plus, his re-election campaign starts today. I expect there will be plenty of ugly to go around for the next two years.
There are now checks in place but now Trump gets to say that the House is preventing him from doing more instead of the “Deep State.” Things will get better, I think, but I also don’t think we’re close to out of the proverbial woods yet.
that is correct, he has always run his own business so nobody told him no.
Trump’s barely been able to function with a government that’s been on his side and has been doing all it can to support him. Even Robert Mueller is a Republican. Now he’s going to have to face genuine opposition.
Trump will not be able to handle it well. I expect the next two years will be the equivalent of listening to a toddler throw a screaming tantrum.
The Dems winning the House will be an important check on Trump and prevent worse things from happening, but the GOP’s expanded control of the Senate will be disastrous for appointments to the judiciary. They don’t even have to pretend to be rational any more. Trump’s judicial appointments are going to be a plague on the country for a very long time to come, a lasting legacy of the catastrophe of 2016. Even worse if Breyer or Ginsburg retire.
One of the consequences that has now undoubtedly been explained to the toddler-in-chief is that Mueller is now protected and trying to fire him and end the investigation would have severe repercussions.
Ginsberg won’t leave office unless she’s dead or very ill. Probably true for Breyer as well.
As berverage options we had watered down Schlitz and Battery acid, and since I don’t like my beer watered down I decided it not to express a beverage choice. But now two years later at least we can water down our battery acid with 1/3 part full strength Schlitz.
ETA: was Nader even running in 2016?