I was reminded today that the ACA is still alive after 4 years of onslaught. I’m relieved.
I’m also relieved that I won’t have to worry about a nuclear attack started by the President in a fit of anger.
I’m relieved that I won’t have to hear about the firing of government officials on twitter.
I’m sure there’s more I’ve taken for granted that I didn’t have to worry about before and hope I won’t for the next 4 years.
What are you relieved about?
I’m relieved that people with competency and compassion will now be in charge of responding to this pandemic.
Still being alive to see it.
Of all the things to worry about, that shouldn’t have been on your list. The one good thing about Trump was that he was pretty adverse to lashing out with America’s military.
It very much is not over.
The terrorists are just getting started.
This. And that we will get excellent (mostly) judicial nominations for the next four years with some hope they’ll get confirmed.
Will probably get another $1,400 check.
I’m waiting for all the free stuff I’m supposed to get now.
/s
I’m so overjoyed that some level of competent consistency is back in charge. I hope Joe will get a chance to seat a Supreme Court Justice. Mostly I hope we go back to kindness and truth.
Do I think Trump would have launched nukes just for fun? No. But remember his stupid rocket man jokes and I have a bigger button braggadocio?
< Iran enters the chat >
I am feeling some degree of relief, but I agree with this.
Not only terrorists, but obstructive, scortched-earth political tactics from Republicans who remain in power.
Most of my relief is tempered with caveats, such as:
I am relieved that we won’t get any Federalist Society judicial appointments for four years, but I wonder whether Biden will be allowed to seat any judicial nominations. And I worry about those who have been appointed already who remain on the bench.
I am relieved that the coronavirus pandemic will now be addressed by rational policymakers, but I worry how effective even their best efforts will be, especially when it comes to voluntary compliance on the part of people.
I am relieved that we will have a competent diplomatic policy trying to repair our international relationships, but I wonder whether the trust has been permanently broken.
I am relieved that there will be people in charge who will address environmental and climate matters, health care costs/insurance, education, student debt, etc., with good faith, but I worry about the damage that has been done.
I am relieved that the traitorous, racist, white-supremacist, Christian nationalist Republican party no longer controls the three branches of the federal government, but they still control too much, and I worry about their ongoing ability to agitate their cultists and dupes. Same with Donald Trump.
I am relieved that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys, and the national intelligence community will now be in the hands of people who will be able to act against those who try to overthrow our democracy, but I worry about how effective they will be in doing so.
It’s not over, but I think there’s an opportunity to reverse the back slide - we just have to take advantage of it.
We have to collectively have an understanding that there have to be new rules to protect ourselves against back sliding again. Social media and conventional media have to overpower the fake news industry. We have to hold political pundits, operatives, donors, and elected officials themselves accountable for feeding the opponents of democracy. We can’t just say “Well that’s free speech, so there’s nothing we can say or do about it.”
I am worried about the Republicans’ ability to maintain undemocratic minority power throughout the country. I would like to see a constitutional amendment enforcing a new Voting Rights Act on a national basis, and see the admission of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as states, but I doubt either will happen.
I want to see the hammer come down hard on those who conspired to overthrow our election. I also would like to see a constitutional amendment curbing the president’s pardon power, but I doubt I’ll see it.
I am relieved that Twitter and Facebook seemed to have recognized the importance of curbing dangerous lies on their platforms. I worry that they won’t follow through in the long term.
There are so many things I’m relieved/happy about, but the top in my mind right now:
I could go on, but that’s what’s banging around in the ol’ coconut right now.
I think that there will actually be a real response to COVID now that doofus is gone. That’s not to say that people won’t die - there will still be a lot of death and hospitalizations, but whether they’ll admit it or not, I suspect a lot of Trump voters will quietly be relieved to know that resources are being directed toward fighting the pandemic…which will open up the economy again. And I don’t see how that doesn’t help strengthen Biden politically.
On that note, I think Biden’s presence, his tone will help strengthen democracy. There are still a lot of dangers to democracy out there - they aren’t going away. But I think people may gravitate toward Biden once they see that government isn’t always the problem (a reference to Reagan). I think it’s a relief to have an administration that will try to live the values of truth. By virtue of being a truth teller, reality will hopefully destroy the alternative facts universe.
I can’t help with most of your very legitimate concerns, but this at least is not a problem for the next two years. Thanks to the recent Georgia election the Biden administration can now nominate and push through any open judicial appointment they wish. It’s by simple majority vote in the Senate. Assuming no defections of course, which is unlikely as Biden in particular isn’t liable to nominate someone who is crazy fringe.
This was in fact by far the most important consequence of the Georgia Senate runoffs.
I’m hopeful that I won’t have to cringe watching press conferences, with one thing coming from the press secretary, another thing coming from the President’s twitter and another thing being seen on video as reality.
Jen Psaki says that she plans to have daily press conferences again.
I also like that the White House and Capitol logs will be public again.
Trump will be back. Unless he’s convicted in the Senate, he will run again in 2024 and probably win. The enemies of democracy have a new playbook, and they will spend the next 4 years executing it. So far the Dems and the media have shown no ability to counter it and, in fact, tend to unwittingly reinforce it by echoing it.
I think the point is, there may not be an open seat in the next 4 years. There aren’t many oldies left and the ones that are are all far-right zealots.
I’m glad that the entire grifting former first family no longer has access to national security information. At least I hope their clearances have expired or have been/will be revoked.
I’m glad Stephen Miller will no longer befoul the White House with his presence.
I’m glad the incoming cabinet secretaries actually want their departments to do their jobs.
I’m glad the departure from the Paris accords will have been brief and hope that the US reaffirms the Iran nuclear deal.