We will look back on this era and wonder about all the missed opportunities to end Donald Trump’s political career.
The decisions by Hillary Clinton’s campaign team to waste time and energy on trying to win Arizona and a few other marginal states instead of shoring up the blue wall of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The failure of Robert Mueller to write his investigative report in plain English and explain clearly that Trump deserved to be indicted, allowing Bill Barr to lie about his conclusions and the evidence of Trump’s support for Russia’s aid to his campaign.
The cowardice of Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans after the Trump-initiated Jan. 6 insurrection, stepping back from the impeachment conviction he so richly deserved. And the hesitance by Merrick Garland to bring a criminal indictment against Trump, or to appoint a special prosecutor early in his term.
Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term instead of stepping aside after the mid-term election and allowing Democrats to choose the best candidate to run against Trump.
Now, with the missed gunshot at Trump and the iconic photo (I can’t bring myself to show it) that will help usher him into a second term as President (and probably bring a Republican-controlled Congress along with him), we are about to witness the takeover of the federal government by the equivalent of an organized crime boss.
Much of Project 2025 (I wrote about that in earlier Redburn Reads before it was widely publicized, but there will be more to say in future Redburn Reads) will become a reality. The Earth will become hotter and hotter: While coal will continue to decline and renewable energy will expand because it is the most cost-effective source of new electricity, the the more aggressive efforts to limit the U.S. contribution to climate change will wither.
Inflation will take off and inequality will rise again, as Trump’s promised economic “policy” cuts taxes on the wealthy, sharply increases import tariffs that will raise consumer prices across the board, and pressures the Federal Reserve to hold down interest rates.
Women will lose even more freedom to control their own bodies (I wouldn’t be surprised to see Trump pressure the FDA to ban abortion pills). The Supreme Court will turn even more to the right.
And we will be at risk of turning our democracy into a sham, as Trump attempts to emulate Victor Orban of Hungary and other autocrats who have managed to manipulate the voting process so that federal elections are no longer truly competitive.
Last Wednesday, I attended a preview showing in New York of a semi-documentary film by David Smick called America’s Burning, looking at the prospect of a new American Civil War. I thought it was overly alarmist when I saw it. Now I think, if anything, it was too rosy.
These are scary times.
I don't want to, either, Dan. But I'm not in the business of sugarcoating reality.
I don't want to accept your conclusion. But...