Will everything return to "normal" after Trump is gone?

[kentuck]

Or are we entering into a "new reality"?

I think it is natural to assume we will go back to where we were before the 2016 election. We will once again be the leader of the free world. Our allies will forget all that has happened since 2016 and will trust us once again.

All of our ideas will return to "normal".

We like to think they will.

[RKP5637]

1. A lot of damage has been done, and likely yet to come. n/t

[Iliyah]

2. No. We still have insane GOP

politicians and oligarchs that back them. Plus, Pence is truly insane as well.

Seems like you have to be batshit crazy to join the Republican party.

[JoeOtterbein]

9. Yep! n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

17. We have the people that voted for them

Racist, sexists, religious bigots. Many of them are raining children.

[Sugar Smack]

3. We will all be adrenaline junkies with PTSD.

I can't imagine any other scenario.

[dameatball]

4. Great question. The answer is that we, as Democrats, need to show up and vote in EVERY elction.

Local, statewide and national. The Trumpies will always be out there and right wing media will still be out there. We could win 2020 big time.....maybe….and a few years later the same snakes will crawl out of their holes.

[akraven]

15. Agreed +1000!

I haven't missed a vote since I got "legal" in 1972.

[manor321]

5. No. This is the result of the MASSIVE conservative media, which is stronger than ever

[Harker]

6. What's normal, going forward?

The boundaries have finally broken down, having been stretched thin by republicans since Nixon.

[wasupaloopa]

7. The Repubs will be out of office unless they impeach trump

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Not sure what would constitute normal, but I can safely say nothing

will go back to what it was before.

To begin with, many terrible things have already happened, from tax cuts for the rich, to the gutting of environmental regulations, to making lifetime appointments of truly awful judges, to the departure of lots and lots of experienced, good people from many agencies. Most of those last won't come back, and it will be decades before newcomers have the knowledge and experience to make up for what's lost.

Face it. This country is going to hang on to a charade of world leadership for another ten, maybe twenty years, but it will degrade steadily until it is no more.

Probably the main thing to be concerned about is the cost of our bloated military, with nearly 800, that's right 800 military bases in some 70 countries. Those will be the final blow. And no matter how it ends, it won't be pretty.

[ancianita]

10. When the LAW finally dominates decisions, things will return to justice, then peace. Not until.

We have to vote in reps who love the law; we have to learn more constitutional law, learn the limits of legal games the GOP try to play, make sure our judiciary love the law.

What is the law and what is legal are very different things. But I'm still just learning the historical difference, so please don't ask me to explain yet, and any contributions made to this distinction are appreciated.

[Tech]

12. Federalist

Way too many on benches, will have to figure out how to deal with them.

[ancianita]

16. Being third largest country on the planet, many of our structural problems are from sheer scale.

But no. All our judges need do is adjudicate the laws.

Law enforcement, even, will then actually fall in line.

[a kennedy]

11. What the hell is normal anymore????

[Buckeyeblue]

13. I think at some point we'll have to have a real reckoning about democracy

The current way we do things does not reflect the will of the majority of Americans. That's a problem that I see getting worse. As some states move to correct gerrymandering problems, I see the house being consistently democratic, but I think it will be more difficult to take control of the Senate.

I also think that we are really going to have to work on the state level to nullify the supreme court.

Depending on how 45's presidency ends, I could also see the formation of a third party that could potentially draw voters from both parties. Probably more R's than D's but you never know how such a novelty would shake out.

[ancianita]

19. Huh? Nullify the Supreme Court? Third party formation? What could possibly go wrong. Or right?

[Buckeyeblue]

23. By nullify the SC I mean states need to step up civil rights protections

If some state cases could be stopped at the state level, rather than going to the SC, I think we could preserve some precedents.

I think we should be slow to appeal some cases to the SC as well. We may have to let stand some shitty state laws by some of our more backward states, rather than letting the SC undo years of precedent.

[UniteFightBack]

14. This alt right insane shit was here before rump. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

18. A new normal

And deep resentment.

The others won't be the others forever. This will not end well - in about 15 to 20 years.

[Demovictory9]

20. nope. He's packing the courts with young, bigoted, nutty judges

[appalachiablue]

36. Courts/Judiciary are huge, people forget.

[Volaris]

21. No. The Base over there will still be pissed that Jr was so goddamned incompetent

That we went ahead and elected the Smart Black Man to fix what he fucked up, will be more pissed that their rage-backlash elected the first president to die in prison, and they will STILL be pissed that Nixon quit.

So no. Nothing will change. They will nominate someone even more useless and hateful, and we will spend the next half century bringing this country back to 1975., JUST so we can try and move forward.

In 200 years (if we're still here) it will be referred to by historians as 'the lost American century', and it will have cost us our Standing on the World Stage.

We can save ourselves if we want, but it will likely mean conceding large parts our economic empire.

Because 'looking forward' , instead of putting criminals in jail like we're supposed to.

Just MHO, and your mileage may vary.

[Poiuyt]

22. I think we've seen the birth of a new political movement -- Trumpism

Ultraconservative with blatant racism and bigotry. Trumpists have been simmering beneath the surface for a long time, but Trump has given them cover to slither out from under their rocks. We're fortunate that Trump is too stupid to do more with it.

[kentuck]

25. Do you think Republicans look at Trump the way Democrats looked at FDR ?

FDR could never be so uncouth as Trump, but a lot of people on the right hated him.

[Poiuyt]

39. I don't know if there was the same level of idolatry

Yes, there were a lot of Republicans who hated him, but I don't know if the Democrats looked at him as a cult figure like the 35% of the far right do with trump. I'm only 65 years old so I wasn't around when FDR was president, but I've never seen this kind of religious worship of a president--even with Reagan.

[violetpastille]

24. I don't want things to go back to normal.

I was riding high and looking forward to eight years of HRC.

I was all:
"Business is great! People are terrific! Life is wonderful!" Rah rah rah!

Then Trump. Which came as a psychic shock that I am just getting out from under. And I am changed. I'm radicalized, I suppose.

The growth economy that we have all been hanging on to is not sustainable anymore.
We can't live like we've been living since the early 60's.
I don't prioritize the military.
I don't prioritize public education.
I don't prioritize jobs training.
I don't prioritize infrastructure.

I prioritize an "Earth Squad".
I prioritize children learning what it is that they love and doing it. A generation of artisans.
I prioritize not trying to solve the problems of technology with more technology.

Normal will buy us some time. Radical might buy us a future.

[kentuck]

26. I think it is going to take some visionaries to get us out of present predicament.

Thanks for your comments.

[bluestarone]

27. NEVER EVER will it be normal with me!!

[Stargleamer]

28. No, he's inflicted a lot of damage, some of it irreversible

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh come to mind, but so too does unresponsiveness to global warming.

[delisen]

29. We still have to address Russian propaganda war

enabled by social media giants.

Climate change is going to move front and center-battle over resources intensifies. Migrations increase.

European Union likely becomes more powerful as a world leader and so does China. I think US has lost power and that continues until we have a more aware and knowledgable citizenry.

[Mike Nelson]

30. Not right away...

… he's done so much damage, if will take years to recover... and he's not even done, yet.

[Turbineguy]

31. I think we may see some control of the President by the Congress

after the 2020 election that is.

[meow2u3]

32. We'll have to go through "de-Trumpification"

Trumpanzees would have to submit to a thorough de-Trumpification program until they're free of the toxic, negative, and evil influence of Cult45. DUers would be the "educators."

[appalachiablue]

37. +1

[beachbum bob]

33. not for a few decades as we have batshit crazy judges in place

[doc03]

34. After Trump how could anything be normal again? nt

[roamer65]

35. Not unless the SALT deduction is repealed.

That one issue is significant enough to breakup the country.

[Baltimike]

38. No. His enablers will linger. nt