By 2026, after our agricultural economy has been ravaged by deportations and tariffs result in households paying thousands more, and social security and Medicare under threat, the buyer’s remorse will be fierce. The first step will be winning back the House and Senate.
Olivia, thank you for sharing this, and thank you for having the courage to speak truth to power.
We are going to need to devise survival strategies quickly. This time, trump has a collection of saboteurs who understand government in a way that he never has; and this time there are no adults in the room to curb his worst intentions.
I would like to think that blue state Governors should form a coalition to try and thwart the most extreme policies that trump will try and implement. New state laws and state executive orders about how contracts are awarded, how benefits and assistance are conveyed to citizens, and as Pamela Keith has suggested, perhaps forming a blue state health cooperative with the freedom to negotiate drug prices, and provide affordable health care in the event that the ACA is constrained or overturned. There are lots of ways to push back.
One of the scariest scenarios involves firing career Federal workers who have spent years learning their professions and providing continuity of government function between one administration and the next. To forcibly remove that giant cadre of highly functional workers will create chaos, invite bribery and fraud, and completely hamstring the goverment from functioning efficiently. Coming from a career in DoD, I can only begin to imagine the impact on the acquisition of materiel and services when it comes to providing our military with the tools it needs to do the job.
Worse yet, is the stated intention of having military personal sign loyalty pledges to a President, superseding their oath to the Constitution. This is untenable, and we will need to use our collective voices with all the leverage we can bring to bear to prevent this from happening. If implemented, this loyalty pledge would destroy good order and discipline in our military, and raise frequent and serious questions about what constitutes a lawful order while we are living in the midst of a very dangerous world.
Thank you for this forum. We now must plan for the worst, and hope for the best.
I wish D's had listened to you and Amanda Carpenter more. As you know, but maybe not your readers, Carpenters book predicted how Trump would campaign in 20 and 24.
Fight? We fought and lost our most precious democracy. There is no fight. The United States Army will put us down so fast. The National guard at Trump’s beck and call? No. We lost everything. You’re not getting it back. Understand that. It is gone. So many people are going to die. Journalist falling out windows, poisoned politicians. No healthcare for us. Our social security is gone. Americans did this. I hate them. I hate Merrick Garland, he was in on it the whole time and Joe Biden who refused to replace him when he knew Garland was protecting Trump.
Good bye my beloved America, you’ve been raped and murdered by those that were supposed to have loved you. There is no “Welcome to a new administration” we’re Russia now.
You are an inspiration, Olivia, a national and human treasure. Thank you for your indefatigable courage, intellect, moral prowess and determination to nurture the better angels of America against the darkest one of Trump psychotic contagion and mass hysteria that is bone-chillingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
This may sound unduly pessimistic, but I think it’s realistic and it’s something I’ve believed for a long time and that this election confirmed in a very dark way. We are done as the country we thought we were and we’re not coming back to that place. Here’s why.
The fractured media landscape and the ways in which people get news have created an elemental problem for America. Some listen to media channels that hide information from them or feed them misinformation. Younger people consume only the curated news that is fed to them through social media channels and podcasts.
We’ve given up on trying to identify or prevent propaganda spread by hostile powers on social media. In 2016, Russian interference was a scandal. Now it’s ignored or shrugged off.
Many Evangelical churches have become centers of white Christian nationalism and they have been taught to loathe and attack and demean and demonize all who disagree with them. They believe they’re fighting a religious war and that they’re on the side of righteousness.
Our constitutional structure gives outsized power to minority viewpoints, both in how it gives each state the same representation regardless of population and how it gerrymanders districts to control outcomes.
None of this is new but here’s my point. If we don’t change these factors, we don’t have a chance of charting a new path. If you can’t get facts and truth to voters and if they won’t believe them even if you do, nothing will change. Trump will do disastrous things. He will blame Democrats. His media collaborators will reinforce those narratives.
None of his supporters will say to themselves, “Gee, I didn’t know he said he was going to do a, b, c, and d. Maybe I should ask why I didn’t hear those things and consider whether I need to find more reliable sources of information.” Nope. They’ll just repeat whatever line they hear on Fox news or Joe Rogan and on we go.
To really restore our democracy, we’d have to find a way to recognize and acknowledge these issues and work in good faith to fix them. Anyone here see a path for that to happen?
By 2026, after our agricultural economy has been ravaged by deportations and tariffs result in households paying thousands more, and social security and Medicare under threat, the buyer’s remorse will be fierce. The first step will be winning back the House and Senate.
Olivia, thank you for sharing this, and thank you for having the courage to speak truth to power.
We are going to need to devise survival strategies quickly. This time, trump has a collection of saboteurs who understand government in a way that he never has; and this time there are no adults in the room to curb his worst intentions.
I would like to think that blue state Governors should form a coalition to try and thwart the most extreme policies that trump will try and implement. New state laws and state executive orders about how contracts are awarded, how benefits and assistance are conveyed to citizens, and as Pamela Keith has suggested, perhaps forming a blue state health cooperative with the freedom to negotiate drug prices, and provide affordable health care in the event that the ACA is constrained or overturned. There are lots of ways to push back.
One of the scariest scenarios involves firing career Federal workers who have spent years learning their professions and providing continuity of government function between one administration and the next. To forcibly remove that giant cadre of highly functional workers will create chaos, invite bribery and fraud, and completely hamstring the goverment from functioning efficiently. Coming from a career in DoD, I can only begin to imagine the impact on the acquisition of materiel and services when it comes to providing our military with the tools it needs to do the job.
Worse yet, is the stated intention of having military personal sign loyalty pledges to a President, superseding their oath to the Constitution. This is untenable, and we will need to use our collective voices with all the leverage we can bring to bear to prevent this from happening. If implemented, this loyalty pledge would destroy good order and discipline in our military, and raise frequent and serious questions about what constitutes a lawful order while we are living in the midst of a very dangerous world.
Thank you for this forum. We now must plan for the worst, and hope for the best.
We are now living in dangerous times.
Thank you Olivia for your extreme patriotism & bravery.
Thank you, Olivia, for your wisdom and patriotism.
Thank you. If only the world had more Olivia Troyes in it
I wish D's had listened to you and Amanda Carpenter more. As you know, but maybe not your readers, Carpenters book predicted how Trump would campaign in 20 and 24.
Thank you. I needed to hear that.
Fight? We fought and lost our most precious democracy. There is no fight. The United States Army will put us down so fast. The National guard at Trump’s beck and call? No. We lost everything. You’re not getting it back. Understand that. It is gone. So many people are going to die. Journalist falling out windows, poisoned politicians. No healthcare for us. Our social security is gone. Americans did this. I hate them. I hate Merrick Garland, he was in on it the whole time and Joe Biden who refused to replace him when he knew Garland was protecting Trump.
Good bye my beloved America, you’ve been raped and murdered by those that were supposed to have loved you. There is no “Welcome to a new administration” we’re Russia now.
You are an inspiration, Olivia, a national and human treasure. Thank you for your indefatigable courage, intellect, moral prowess and determination to nurture the better angels of America against the darkest one of Trump psychotic contagion and mass hysteria that is bone-chillingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
Such wise and brave words. You are providing another fine example for us all to follow.
Thanks for your comments.
One of the best pieces I have read post-election.
Thank you and thanks to all who will continue the fight.
Thank you for your courage and dedication to the Constitution and the rule of law.
There will be no surrender.
To quote John Paul Jones: I have not yet begun to fight !
Thank you for courageous patriotism
This may sound unduly pessimistic, but I think it’s realistic and it’s something I’ve believed for a long time and that this election confirmed in a very dark way. We are done as the country we thought we were and we’re not coming back to that place. Here’s why.
The fractured media landscape and the ways in which people get news have created an elemental problem for America. Some listen to media channels that hide information from them or feed them misinformation. Younger people consume only the curated news that is fed to them through social media channels and podcasts.
We’ve given up on trying to identify or prevent propaganda spread by hostile powers on social media. In 2016, Russian interference was a scandal. Now it’s ignored or shrugged off.
Many Evangelical churches have become centers of white Christian nationalism and they have been taught to loathe and attack and demean and demonize all who disagree with them. They believe they’re fighting a religious war and that they’re on the side of righteousness.
Our constitutional structure gives outsized power to minority viewpoints, both in how it gives each state the same representation regardless of population and how it gerrymanders districts to control outcomes.
None of this is new but here’s my point. If we don’t change these factors, we don’t have a chance of charting a new path. If you can’t get facts and truth to voters and if they won’t believe them even if you do, nothing will change. Trump will do disastrous things. He will blame Democrats. His media collaborators will reinforce those narratives.
None of his supporters will say to themselves, “Gee, I didn’t know he said he was going to do a, b, c, and d. Maybe I should ask why I didn’t hear those things and consider whether I need to find more reliable sources of information.” Nope. They’ll just repeat whatever line they hear on Fox news or Joe Rogan and on we go.
To really restore our democracy, we’d have to find a way to recognize and acknowledge these issues and work in good faith to fix them. Anyone here see a path for that to happen?
Yup, most definitely… and they asked for it… the Full Monty!