If you were awake and plugged into any form of media on the 100th day of Donald Trump’s second residency in the White House Tuesday, you could not escape the frenzy journalists engaged in deciphering the meaning of the upheaval he has wrought to our government, our foreign relations, our economy, our educational system, our civil rights, in short, to our values as a country that has aspired to be a guiding light to all nations, a mantle many around the globe have admired and sought to be part of.
The liberal media, which I almost exclusively digest, have been effusive in their condemnation of Trump’s actions. They’ve been tripping over themselves in their quest to be the most comprehensive compilers of Trump transgressions.
No, I do not come before you, to paraphrase Marc Antony a la Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” to praise Donald Trump, but rather to put our fears and anguish in context.
For worse, surely not better, Trump will sit behind the Resolute Desk for another 1,360 days. Abetted by an archaic electoral system and a compliant Supreme Court, voters enabled him to unleash a tsunami on American exceptionalism.
Pay little regard to polls that suggest his popularity is falling, for he cares not. Oh, sure, his ego demands people like him. His MAGA bros still do, for the most part, and those are the only people he cares about, even if many of his actions, from tariffs to gutting labor safeguards to decimating medical research, will adversely affect them.
As long as there is no other alpha male in the Trumpian Party, he has no foil seeking to rein in his excesses. Even after he leaves office, whenever that may be, he is likely to wield undue influence on who can mount an election campaign for governor, for Congress, for Senate, even dog catcher. Just as Ronald Reagan enjoyed an afterlife for decades, Trump will cast a giant shadow, even from his grave.
His cheeky feints of a third term—MAGA 2028 red hats already being sold—notwithstanding, Trump is boring in on his retribution campaign with apparent full understanding that his executive power has a finite date of January 20, 2029.
Even if Democrats are successful in capturing the House and/or the Senate in 2026, they will have little leverage to thwart his destruction as any attempt to stymie him will be met with a veto that surely would lack sufficient votes to overturn.
It’s a depressing picture, I know. It depresses me. But it’s an honest assessment, made all the more so by the failure of Democrats to offer compelling alternatives, both in viable candidates and corrective legislation.
There is no short term relief. Stay informed, if not engaged. Practice what the opposition did for many years—get involved at the grassroots level, for elections for school board members, city/town and state representatives, sheriffs, mayors. Restoring America to pre-Trump compassion, rule of law, respect for the Constitution is a long process. Trust, believe it can be done.
