Just over 4 years ago I was sitting with my wife on our sofa in our home in Texas. I was in consoling mode as she was in floods of tears, absolutely horrified and shattered at the election outcome. I wasn’t doing much better but was riding on a wave of Oban. I do vividly remember something I said back then. Clutching at straws I suppose, but I remember saying “what if he turns out to be really good at this?”. Oh how we laugh about that now.
Last night Biden & Harris led a brief memorial event at the Lincoln monument, honouring the now 400,000 Americans that have died during the pandemic. Sadly one of those souls was my dear father in law back in August. With no funeral or family gathering possible in all that time it felt like a little bit of closure, and it was also a signal of some hope for a more compassionate way forward. We moved to Ireland last July and, family aside, have felt very distant from our lives over there. Ironically, our latest binge on TV has been ‘Aerial America’ on the Smithsonian channel (check it out it’s wonderful). I love America, I really do. It gave me 20 years of great joy and happiness. I love the people and the places, it’s where I met my wife and our son was born. I’m so hopeful of better times ahead. I wonder how long the stench of Trump will last? Can Biden do enough in the next 4 years that will make him seem like just a horrible distant memory?
So, what happens next?
As bad as the pandemic is over there, and how badly it’s been managed, the new administration will get to ride a wave of hope and optimism over the next few months. International relations will be mended, the economy will continue to boom. But what about Trump? He may try to run for office again. He’s been talking about setting up a media empire, even starting a new political party. Is he heading for the courts as soon as he leaves the White House? Will he just slowly fade into obscurity? I think he might. If he has any hope of running again he’s going to need to find the resources to do it. I can’t see his cult forking out $10 or $20 to attend one of his rallies. He won’t have the GOP to prop him up. Media empires require huge investment before you start seeing any reward. Politically, I don’t think he has anywhere to go. He’ll rant and rave and still have his followers but I think he may become a footnote in U.S. politics sooner than people think.
Great piece.
What do you think will happen today? I wonder if the Trump fanatics have the fight left in them to try and disrupt the ceremony. Perhaps not in DC, but in other capitals.
@chiz just had that very same conversation in our office.
I suspect the possibility of disturbance will be greater in Virginia or somewhere like Charleston maybe.
I never thought I’d be so in favour of the CIA and the FBI.
Matt Busby?
and Doris Day.
Georgie Wood for 2024.
The Wikipedia entry for Wee Georgie Wood says “his lack of inches was a constant grief to him.”
He was only wood by name, then?
That reminds me:
There was a copper from Crewe junction
Whose prick just wouldn’t function
So for years of his life
He fooled his wife
With snot on the end of his truncheon
Is this the MPLA?
Or is this the UDA?
Or the NME?
Or the PPFJ
Or the TMFTL
Excellent article. Great to read the story from an insider’s perspective.
I do hope you are right about Trump fading away. However for such a narcissist, this will not be easy.
Incomprehensibly, he still has millions of supporters.
Trump will not be a future candidate for anything. He is financially fucked, no one with any money will touch him.
That’s the good news. His lasting legacy is the destruction of faith in truth and democracy. That was what the election rigging farce was all about, they knew from day one they had lost it.
His enraged supporters won’t be going anywhere and will leap on the next very willing candidate who will pander to their worldview. Someone who will be cleverer and less unhinged and therefore far more dangerous.
Don’t have nightmares đ
That is exactly what I was saying 35 years ago about Thatcher.
“Think she’s bad? Maybe. But you just wait until all these Young Conservatives grow up.”
So that’s… Cameron, Johnson, Rees-Mogg and Farage.
She’d lived through stuff, they’d lived through Thatcher… erm… and that’s it.
That’s a very good point. Food for thought.
Biden will make a call for unity, but as Dana Milbank argues in today’s Washington Post, there can be no unity without truth and accountability. There are still 150 or so Republican lawmakers in Congress who deny the legitimacy of the presidential vote. There have to be consequences for Trump and his enablers, or they will return better prepared next time.
Trump has got this far by being the id of the establishment right-wing – ie doing and saying all those horrible things they really want to do and can’t (or couldn’t). He’s let the genie out of the bottle – those 76m voters are there for the taking. They sure as hell are never going to vote for Kamala Harris.
1. Optimism costs nothing.
2. Aerial America is great isn’t it? I started watching early in 2020 and I have about 7 episodes to go now. When I saw the first few (pre-lockdown) I was conflicted about which states to visit next but as the year went on I got more and more frustrated that I wouldn’t be going to any of them any time soon.
It is great. We lived in north Texas (Dallas Fort Worth area) and most of my extended family were in southern Illinois and up in Iowa. We did a lot of road travel in the heart of the country where people who visit rarely go. What surprised me watching the series is how much we didn’t see of those interior states – Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma. Once I retire we plan to do the whole RV thing. There is so much to see.
I have 14 of the 50 left to visit.
The intention was to add a couple more last year but Covid put paid to that.
The RV thing is sorely tempting although there is something about 50’s America that makes stopping in roadside Motels appealing.
We’ve done a couple of Best Western Wanders through the west coast. Turn a blind eye to the occasional busted AC, or a breakfast that consists solely of bagels made of cardboard, and you can travel and stay pretty much anywhere for a very reasonable cost.
We’ve done New England a couple of times and a swift a West Coast Highway 1 tour looping in Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. I think the US is a brilliant place for a holiday. A big long US tour once I retire is deffo on the books. Especially I wish to go from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah.
Be careful of that Alice character…
I’ve been to 32 now but some of those were 30 years ago so they’re already overdue a revisit. I’d dearly love to visit Nebraska after seeing Aerial America but without a helicopter, there would be some very long drives needed to see everything in one visit!
Biden won, just, because he isn’t Trump. He has to find a way to speak to those Trump left behind, 76 million of them. At the same time fulfilling the wishes of those who voted for him. I don’t know how he bridges that gap because if he doesn’t Trump 2 will come along hoovering up his disciples. Winning the election was just the start, this is a long way from done. It’s sad and frightening I just hope Biden and Harris can really listen to those who saw Trump as the answer because just to ignore them is a dangerous policy. Good luck Joe…
I see your point, but Trump didn’t do anything to appeal to his opponents, didn’t make any concessions and actively went after a significant swathe of the population. So although Biden will try to be conciliatory and inclusive, because that’s his nature and political instinct, there is the legitimate response of (a) what’s the point, because the Trumpsters still haven’t accepted the result never mind anything else, and (b) why the fuck should he? Republicans shafted Obama’s key policies at every turn; they won’t have that opportunity now.
As long as those 76 million are out there the point is to at least try surely.? Or am I just being naive? If helps stop Trump 2 and the Republicans impotent then maybe it’s another reason to try.? Maybe? If the last few years have taught us anything polarisation politics is damaging to everyone in the end
I think a lot voted for him because they thought the Democrats were not listening or communist. If Biden shows he is listening and doesn’t come all socialist, which lets face it is unlikely, people may return.
I think all this 50s-revival talk of reds under the bed is fairly amusing from that crowd, given how in hock Trump’s regime clearly was (and is) to the Russians.
That woman who stole Nancy Pelosi’s laptop immediately tried to sell it to the FSB. Very patriotic.
Biden won big actually, it’s just a lot of his votes came in late so it seemed tight for a good while. All the more deluded are Trump supporters then, some of them anyway, the more extreme. How disturbing that so many can be so easily manipulated and all think the same way to conform to their extreme, crazed group. One day a few of them will wake from their mad ravings and wonder, why did I fall for that nonsense, why did I want to be part of QAnon?
What happened to ‘The Storm’ today? The militia taking control throughout the land. They gave a war and nobody came.
“Just think, war breaks out and nobody turns up” – Ronald Reagan*
(*Chris Barrie really)
“My Way.” Oh, yes, classy send off.
âGuards! Seize him!â
Would be nice if he got off the plane and was given a “Navalny” welcome.
Equally nice if the Feds are waiting at the Mar-a-Lago gates with an articulated lorry full of subpoenas.
Please tell me that’s a reference to this… https://www.theonion.com/seize-him-1819583402
I immediately see Bernard Bresslaw in Follow That Camel (or is it Up The Khyber?) when I hear that phrase.
That was the Bernie we needed. He only arsked….
Listening to World At One today, it seems as though Trumpâs loyalist voters think that the election was rigged because:
Trump said so.
There were hardly any Democrat lawn signs in their area, therefore only about 10% of the vote could have been Democrat.
They donât know anyone who voted Democrat.
Itâs going to be hard to overcome the closed minds.
And on the News this Evening, a representative of The Good Ol’ Boys or Southern Rednecks (or something? sorry, I forgot the Party) suggesting the election result will see the US more divided than ever and Texas will more than likely be seeking independence from the Union
I saw that. Ceding from the Union, said a man who subsequently shot at a target placed on a hay pile which immediately caught fire.
The CIA must be shitting themselves.
Trump believed he won the election on the basis that all the people who turned up for his rallies seemed to be supporting him.
The one immediate benefit of the end of his presidency is the end of all those Covid superspreader festivals.
Trump never believed for a second that he won the election. And I suspect that most of his supporters donât either. Itâs just a prop to justify their actions.
I was in Texas 18 months ago for work and had some truly frightening conversations with the locals. In essence, they are choosing to believe the âtruthâ that supports their worldview, even when they know it is bullshit. This mindset shares a lot with pseudoscience (and religion) where beliefs are completely non-falsifiable, because to admit an error causes the entire scaffolding to collapse.
Not enough is said about the sheer bad faith nature of most (all) of the Trump supporters’ arguments. As you say, no-one (except the genuinely mentally ill) actually believes any of this nonsense (fraudulent elections, Qanon, Antifa, the deep state etc.), but they choose to pretend to, in order to maintain their political stance, which all eventually comes down to racism and white supremacy…
âGoodbye, we love you, weâll be back in some form.â
Surely, these are the tearful words of a rock singer as his band complete the final concert of their farewell tour.
But then things got seriously wacky. He boarded Air Force One dancing to the sound of the Village Peopleâs ‘YMCA’.
It was a scene that could have come straight out of Spinal Tap.
Making America Grimace Again one last time…
But how prescient are the lyrics: listen to them, they could be written for him, as he arrives, penniless, in Florida, perhaps* a bit rueful, but, hey, the guys pipe up, his spirits rise, and everythings gonna make America great again.
*OK, unlikely.
So what happened to the QAnon mob and their fellow travellers who were going to cause so much trouble? Maybe they sank back into the woodwork when it became clear that Trump wasnât going to back them, or maybe some of them believed the stories about a Trump led military coup taking place during the inauguration. There will be others saying they never really existed as an organised movement at all and it was the invention of the liberal media to stir up anti-Trump sentiment. I suspect there were never all that many true believers for the QAnon cause. During the storming of the Capitol it struck me that most of them were along for the ride and had no idea what to do once they got in there. Of course some were extremely dangerous and a policeman was murdered but (with hindsight I admit) it seems like the risk of serious trouble yesterday was overhyped. Sensibly overhyped no doubt, but still overhyped.
The Capitol occupation makes me think of the attempted coup in Spain in 1981.
That was certainly far better organised.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Spanish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt
To this day there are conspiracy theories.
Two very different events. Animal House vs Die Hard
I wondered the same thing. I had a quick look at the New York Times to see if any major disruption had been reported anywhere but it seems not.
I donât doubt there is a significant number of these people, but there doesnât seem to be enough. Or any competent strategic centre to organise the disparate groups and control them. What Iâve seen from 3000 miles away on news bulletins shows manic overweight men posing with weaponry. They are definitely dangerous but not a functional militia. IMHO.
Anyway, why hasnât he been arrested yet?
Yep… Turns out that heavily armed soldiers are a more formidable opponent than endangered wildlife and beer cans.
It turns out the BBC wondered the same thing, and has better research resources than me. The answer seems to be âthey spent the day arguing or moping on the Internetâ.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55746304
They’re talking about Van Morrison too?
That note…
What’s Oban? Nice post.
I assume itâs the whisky, rather than the port…
I thought he’d last longer …
Jeez, it’s a tough job!
Have to say as a non American and not especially a fan of Lady Gaga she did a cracking job on “The Star Spangled Banner” – not subtle, but very emotional and I think she was too. I suspect she really wanted this gig.
Yes. And J-Lo was great, too. Turns out, those women can actually sing!
Article of Impeachment to be delivered to the Senate on Monday. If Schumer and McConnell canât agree a date – and McConnell wants to wait until February to allow Trump to build a defence – then the trial will start Tuesday.
Yeah. Build that defence, Donny. Oh. Youâre out playing golf? Silly me.
According to reports, he wants to raise $2bn (ÂŁ1.46bn) for his presidential library and has floated the idea of forming a new political party called the Patriot Party.
“For his presidential library”. First time I’ve heard it called that. He’s never read anything longer than a fucking tweet in his life. Will those millions of cretins shell out for him yet again? Of course they will.
They’d only spend it on guns, ammo and XXXL camouflage clothing otherwise, so let ’em.
Some genius came up with this recently.