Let’s say Biden wins the American election. The immediate good news is that the election is over and Canadians will cease to be bombarded with the nastiness of a protracted American hate fest. The bad news is that there will be more news, and all of it will be about the court challenges after the accursed election.
Because there’s nothing quite as American as mom, apple pie and an appeal of a lower court decision.
But assuming that there’s a minimum of court challenges and the spectacle of Don being forcibly dragged out of the white house is avoided, then what’s next?
Some answers are easier than others I think. Republicans for example, will suddenly become interested in the deficit, and Fox will just switch gears and channel all of their vitriol at the new president and vice president. In fact, Pucker, Inhannity and Ingrown pretty much have job security regardless of who’s currently at the top of the political pile. They just have to spew venom, and it’s probably an easier job when their boy isn’t in charge. Who knows, maybe the hosts at the fair and balanced network will even offer an opinion on how their government is handling coronavirus?
I suppose that before they voice those thoughts that they’ll have to acknowledge there’s actually a viral problem. That might be a stretch even for Fox, when they have to criticize a Democrat president for mishandling a crisis they denied or downplayed a week earlier when the president was a republican. It’s a good thing for Fox that they’ve demonstrated they’re immune to their own hypocrisy, so they should be just fine. Also, Kamala’s skin isn’t anywhere as white as Pence’s hair, so Tucker and Sean can always bitch about her and hide their racism by calling her a progressive or a socialist.
But what about the average American? Will the political division narrow or will the remnants of Trump linger in the air like a Florida garbage strike in August? By the way, the garbage has always been there rotting, and Don just created a situation where the lids were flipped off the dumpsters. Not just in Florida either. I just picked the sunshine state because of warmth and well…..sunshine.
I think that if I were betting that I’d put my money on lingering. Imagine if Joe decides that the corona virus needs a federal response just as an example. Expect a flurry of Republicans to immediately re-champion state rights, or at least Republican state rights. The pro-Donnie anti-mask people will also make themselves even more disturbingly visible, as they chafe at their rights being infringed upon by a democrat. I suspect a few more gun carrying, camo wearing state legislature protests are inevitable.
Then there’s the investigations. Will they try and uncover all of the Trump family/administration shit that Don didn’t mention on twitter? I guess the quantity of rocks turned over is dependent on who wins the Senate. If the republicans maintain their majority I expect less appetite for stirring up shit, but the justice department, either independent or under a democratic president is another matter altogether. Having said that, I’m not certain that a new American president is inclined to investigate his predecessor. What goes around comes around if you know what I mean.
I suppose all of the Trump loyalists are going to have to be booted out of whatever position they currently hold. So, Joe and Kamala are going to have a shit load of vacancies to fill. The damage these loyalists will do on their way out the door is potential bad news. The good news post departure of the toadies is that a new administration won’t have to get approval for their new appointee’s. All they have to do is label the new hires as acting, and Bob’s your Uncle.
Precedents have been set afterall.
So, I expect that Joe and Kamala are going to have their hands full trying to rebuild the institutions that run the business of the United States, and that should keep them well occupied. There might even be some common sense applied, and competent will outweigh loyal. That would be refreshing.
The MAGA crowd reaction to blue Joe is going to be another matter altogether. Hell, they have t-shirts and hats and everything, and could find themselves all dressed up with nowhere to go. No rally’s means they have to find another destination to air their ignorance and rancor, and with a brownish woman being second in command, their need to vent will be strong. The fake pandemic has taken away Talladega and the NFL, and all they really have left is church and militia meetings, so I think they’ll be looking for another venue or two to express their right to gather in numbers.
I really think that a post Don era in America is going to see a widening of the divide. The reality show loving maga crowd has been set free, and it’s going to take some time to persuade them to shut the fuck up. Also, with a Democrat in charge they’ll be able to lose their shit over every decision and enacted policy. Kind of like the Fox opinion hosts, only on social media or in Wal-Mart. Also I expect these common folk outbursts to demonstrate less sense and eloquence than their role models at Fox, so that ought to be entertaining.
What I find difficult to calculate is the potential for damage from this new victim group. The over forty, sort of middle class, climate change denying, borderline xenophobic, anti-mask, white people that make up the core of MAGA. Don was their last gasp at preserving their world, and should he get turfed then they won’t have a champion any longer. Rush is terminal too, so his uplifting beacon of hope and understanding will be gone from their lives as well.
Tough times ahead for the Maga’s if Joe prevails, and the question is, will they go quietly into that good night? I suspect not. They are after all Americans, and Americans tend to not go anywhere quietly, regardless of their political affiliations.