cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/52351603
It was a wake-up call for America. In January, Donald Trump took the oath of office, declared himself “saved by God to make America great again” and issued a barrage of executive orders. In the ensuing months the US president and his allies moved at breakneck speed and seemed indomitable.
But as 2025 draws to a close with Trump struggling to stay awake at meetings, the prevailing image is of a driver asleep at the wheel. Opinion polls suggest that Americans are turning against him. Republicans are heading for the exit ahead of congressional contests next November that look bleak for the president’s party.
“He came into office and, like a blitzkrieg, was violating laws and the constitution,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “The American political process is slow-moving and so he was able to do things that were extraordinary.
“But this is a guy whose legacy may well be the political collapse of Republicans in this era. Put another way, rather than asking who is going to be the inheritor of the Trump mantle and the so-called Maga movement, we may be talking in a year or so about which candidates can escape the odious distinction of having been connected with Trump.”
Just “unpopular”…
We’re in for history repeating itself if we keep talking about Trump and the present moment like any of it is normal.
Nobody should forgive the Republicans until they’ve apologized for the damage they’ve enabled. There should be commitments to undo the damage. Of course it won’t happen until MAGA is dead.
That’s not far enough. The Republican party should be disbanded for capitulating to Trump’s authoritarianism. They’ve basically just abandoned their post to let a king in all but name run amok.
Which will be never. Since “maga” == conservative, and it’s not like these people are not creating new converts all the time, most especially among the very young and impressionable.
I’ve seen a lot of ink spilled about the gerontocracy, as if that’s the source of our troubles. I see that “JD” “Vance” is a young 41 years old. As a for instance. Almost half the age of Taco. Taco being 79 is not the problem. Mitch McConnell, same thing. Or any other politician you care to point at that is at or over 80 or whatever people think is the cutoff. As long as conservatism keeps propagating itself, having even 20-something year olds in office is not going to fix jack shit.
I’m all for (former) Republicans and conservatives being made to atone for their sins before being welcomed back to polite society, though.