While everyone is still elated by the defeat of Donald Trump in the election that just ended, I would like to caution you all and temper that elation with some gaming out of what may yet still happen. While it is ok to be happy with this outcome, and to celebrate it, please also take a moment to consider that Trump is still in office for another 72 days.
In those 72 days, Trump may well wreak havoc with our system as much as possible out of spite, but, more likely will start to work on covering up all his crimes by a slew of pardons, which, may also include himself. So in that vein of thought, I would like to outline some potential actions Trump might take in the next 72 days that you should all contemplate as we move towards his possible physical removal from the White House.
- Trump is likely to leave the White House in the near future and head to his lair, uh, I mean, Mar-A-Lago, where he will stew about the loss that he is not able to really confront, because he is a malignant narcissistic psychopath. There will be turns of rage and depression that will alternately seize him and in those moments of rage, he will either act out, or hatch plots to punish us all. It is more likely though, we will see a period of inactivity from Trump as he processes this. It is called “Checking Out” and in that time we have some breathing space.
- Trump’s people will start to flee the sinking ship for the most part. There will be others who will double down. Most will though, be seeking other jobs (as some already I have heard have begun to do so) and begin the process of disengaging.
- Trump’s MAGA minions will also be mimicking the soon to be former president and processing the loss. They too will go through the same stages and likely will also be doubling down in their disinformation bubbles. These people will not be going away, and much like Jihadist movements, will just re-tool their process, and we must be vigilant about this. We have already seen a shift in messaging platforms, and we are likely to see them go quiet for a while, but make no mistake, they are not inactive, they are planning, re-grouping.
- In that time of re-tooling the message, we will see them double down on the conspiracies and, pardon the vernacular, “butthurt”, which will only intensify as the Biden Administration takes over and starts, in particular, to undo the damage that Trump has done these last four years. Also as its is looking at present, Biden will have to make numerous changes by using the same power that Trump did to undo the damage (Executive Orders) because the Senate will, unfortunately, be still controlled by the Republicans and Mitch McConnell, who will block him at every step. This will be twisted in the disinformation rhetoric as an abuse of power.
- Likely Trump actions once he returns to the White House are the following:
- Pardons for:
- Roger Stone
- Paul Manafort
- Presumtive Pardon: Ivanka
- Presumtive Pardon: Jared
- Presumtive Pardon: Stephen Miller
- Presumtive Pardon:Bannon
- Presumtive Pardon: Donald J. Trump
- Presumtive Pardon: Rudy Giuliani
- Michael Flynn
- Basically anyone in his orbit he wants to pardon to protect himself from being flipped on. His inner cricle, watch them.
- Pardons for:
Of course it is hard to prognosticate every move that this unhinged president might take, but, here are some possible actions that should worry you all.
- Use of the war powers act to create chaos and perhaps burnish his image. This could mean unilateral actions using the military on places like Iran.
- More executive orders that would help himself and his cronies after the presidency is over, gifts if you may, to his many “donors”
- Attempts to manipulate Barr into rigging things so that any and all Federal, and perhaps State level cases against him are sabotaged.
- Trump may trade on his knowledge of secrets with foreign powers as play for pay. The soon to be former president is an easy mark for espionage adversaries, but, also may be willing to trade in order to secure his future state. (Think Edrogan and Turkey interference with the courts)
- Trump may seek to secure future political capital with those who are aligned with him in the government today. This may include the aforementioned pardons, but also deals to lay possible future plans of a comeback, or, more to the point, line up Jr. for a run in 2024.
These are just a few possible actions on Trump’s part that could take place in the next 72 days. I also suspect that we will not see Trump just fade off into the Mar-A-Lago sunset. He will take some time, and then he will begin his push to continue his “legacy” as he will still be seeing it all as he was “cheated” out of the presidency in 2020. One of the more likely scenarios I see, is that he will align himself with OAN and use it as his new Fox news propaganda outlet.
We will just have to see how much of the limelight he is allowed by the media in general, and the populace though. But, you must know, that his malignant narcissism will not allow him to just go into his bunker of seclusion like an orange Hitler. He will take some time to stew, but he will be back, and so will his brood and followers.
This isn’t over for him or them.
Biden, in the process of undoing all the damage that Trump has done, after removing all his “yes” men and women will also have to help create laws where “norms” were the standard. We have seen how someone like Trump can abuse the systems of power, without any kind of firewall to protect the republic, and nearly bring it down. Biden will also have to work with the DOJ, FBI, Homeland Security, and other organs of the state to monitor the MAGA/Alt-Right groups to insure that they stop them before they potentially activate and cause real harm to people as well. In this, I mean that they may in fact act just like many Jihadi’s and hope to start the civil war that they so desperately seem to want.
So, while I am happy with the outcome here, and feel better about things, I also know that this is not over. Be aware too, that this is not over. We have a lot of work to do to repair the government, the nation, and the stature of this country ahead of us.
This is no time to relax, there is work to do. Let’s make sure it gets done.
K.
