As the Trump Presidency ends (thankfully) and the Biden one begins (finally) there’s a lot on my mind. Rather than write an essay I thought I would just drop all my thoughts here:
The Pandemic:
- I think the Trump administration’s inept handling of the pandemic and especially the vaccine rollout will wind up being a much bigger story/scandal. Once we get past it and are able to catch our breathe and analyze what happened I think we will be blown away by how poorly this was handled.
- To counteract that I would gave the vaccine to everyone as quickly as possible without restriction. If there are high risk, older people who roll up to a vaccination center, then yes, let them cut the line. But on any given day, just round up as many willing people as you can. We should never be in a situation where doses are going unused or discarded. This should be an all hands on deck war-time situation.
- I also don’t understand why people aren’t more angry at their fellow citizens for not wearing masks, flouting restrictions, and having this drag on so long? Like why do we need federal or state guidelines to tell us what to do? Why aren’t local communities policing themselves and just peer pressuring each other into doing the right thing? This points to a much bigger societal issue in my opinion: the fact that we’ve all become so selfish. We only think of ourselves, the individual, and not the collective good.
- 400,000 people have died so far in America alone. That number is likely to get to 500,000 at least. The New York Times called 100,000 deaths an incalculable amount. So what does that make 400,000? 500,000? At least we’re finally getting around (thanks to Biden) to honoring those we have lost. It was yet another telling sign of the Trump administration (and how little they think of anyone but themselves) that we never held a memorial until now.
- I don’t understand why Trump’s second impeachment is solely focused on him inciting the Capital riot. All of his other transgressions, including his handling of the pandemic, should have been included as well.
The Capitol Attack:
- Similarly, I don’t understand why if we are talking about how his speech could incite violence, we’re only focusing on the Capitol riot, and not the previous attacks that his hate and lies have inspired such as the shooting in El Paso and the synagogue attack in Pittsburgh.
- There is a bigger issue at play here than just this one incident. What about the 70 million plus people who voted for Trump, who believed his lies about the election? Tens of millions of people have essentially joined a cult and have been radicalized. How do you save these people? At least the more moderate ones among them? The Republican party needs new leadership, people who can get them back on track. There needs to be a war of ideas within Conservativism.
The Trump Presidency:
- Trump may not have started any wars but he still managed to kill over 400,000 Americans and turn Washington, D.C. into a war zone. And technically he did start a war: a war against information; a war against the truth.
- I think a lot of people will have an epiphany and wind up realizing how foolish they were to follow him. People will try to distant themselves from him very quickly once he is no longer in power. There will be a very noticeable and high profile “reckoning” that will happen almost like another version of the Me Too Movement where people announce on social media that they too were duped.
- On the other hand I can also see some people doubling down on aligning themselves with the Trump brand; even officially splitting from the Republican party and forming a Trumplican party. According to rumors Trump himself wants to start his own party called the Patriot Party.
- We need to do something about the idea of Presidential Pardons. How is it fair to have someone pardon their accomplices in the crimes they committed?
- A prediction: History will judge his presidency very harshly. He will be remembered as the worst President of all-time and will very likely wind up penny less and in jail.
- At the very least we need to go through with Impeachment. It doesn’t matter that he is no longer in office. There are other reasons to impeach: financial considerations, taking away his secret service detail, removing his ability to ever run for public office again, setting a precedent for behavior regardless of when it occurs, etc.
The Inaguration:
- I heard a great idea online the other day: if Trump won’t attend and partake in a peaceful transition of power than have George Bush and Barack Obama both do it in a bi-partisan way.
- In a way Joe Biden is inheriting a terrible situation: a global pandemic, rising domestic extremism, Climate Change, a depressed economy, etc. But on the other hand this is also the easiest/best time to be President. By simply doing what is logical or by just reversing everything that Trump did, you would accomplish a ton and go down in history as one of the greatest presidents of all-time. There’s never been more opportunity to do good than right now. And Biden is already making great moves such as elevating science to a cabinet level position, rejoining the Paris accords, stopping the keystone pipeline, reversing the racist Muslim travel ban, rolling out a comprehensive vaccine plan, etc. All moves that were obvious to make.
- Amanda Gorman’s poem was amazing. If you haven’t heard it yet you should check it out.
- I think we need to move up the date of the Inauguration. The lame duck period between Election Day and Inauguration Day was way too long. That transition should be almost simultaneous.
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