Looks like TFG will be announcing his 2024 run, possibly as soon as next week. In preparation for that momentous (?) event, at some time during the past 24 hours the three-time loser (or is it four, he didn’t actually win in 2016 did he ...) basically laid out his unique vision for his re-election.
He said something about rigged elections, open borders and US being a failing nation. There's a good chance those three pillars will be his platform.
So let's look at those pillars.
Elections. Despite many understandable fears and trepidations, there's been hardly a ripple of complaint about fraud or any other irregularities in the just-completed vote. It doesn't matter whether you are Democrat, Republican, or Independent, just about everyone has accepted the results from this past Tuesday as free, fair and accurate. The couple of guys who are objecting look pretty ridiculous and are being appropriately mocked.
Borders. OK, how about immigration. Again, despite extensive and widespread attempts by the Republican Party to gin up fears and threats about our terrifyingly porous borders, very few people really seem to care about immigration in this election. In fact, from what I've seen from exit polls, immigration was at or near the bottom of the list of major concerns across the entire country.
The nation’s status. Finally, let's talk about whether or not our country is a failing state. First, let's take a look at another country that TFG has expressed great affection for. That would be Russia. Many signs are pointing to the possibility that Russia could be drifting toward failed state status in the not too distant future. But even if it survives Putin’s reign, the fact that they mounted a full-scale invasion of a neighbor, that they greatly outnumbered and out-weaponed that neighbor, and yet weren't able to accomplish a single goal, militarily or otherwise, in fact made their economy and their populace weaker and NATO even stronger … well enough said about that.
By comparison, the US is doing reasonably well. We can’t say we don’t have serious issues — every country does. But our democracy apparently is much more resilient than almost anyone would have expected. Our economy, while continuing to be shaky, is also proving stronger than expected, and is in somewhat better shape than much of the developed world. And the Second Civil War that some people have been projecting ... well, that somehow just keeps managing to avoid becoming a reality.
So, when Trump makes his announcement, and pours forth his standard, predictable vitriol and negativity, his “American carnage” and doom and gloom, I expect, or at least I hope, that most of us, privately and publicly, will push back on that and push back hard.
But it occurred to me that there is one very well-known group of people who, if they were willing to push back, could further isolate Trump. Actually, they could make him seem totally out of touch.
I'm proposing that all of the living presidents from Carter to Biden, including GW Bush (and obviously excluding Trump), will write an open letter to the public. The letter would affirm our shared values, underscore the importance of democracy, and offering a positive outlook for our future as a country.
I believe that such a letter could act as a watershed moment, a pivot point, tipping point, call it what you will.
And, if TFG’s own bile doesn’t create enough of a self-inflicted wound and cause him to be permanently irrelevant, I think a clear, positive vision from those other leaders could help consign Trump to the dustbin of history, where he so clearly belongs.