I, for one, am impressed with Donald Trump, for his brashness, pedestrian views, doubling down on his mistakes, and remarkable ignorance. As he remains unchallenged, the inability to pin him down for details is not due to an institutional stasis; instead as per the Beltway pundits, it is a task, which the media is unprepared to handle. It seems the country (parts of it anyway) is poised for Trump; Republican base, especially in the South, has almost been singing the refrain for many years. The successful tale (evidence-less opinions and imaginary incitements) that started in the Fox News twenty years ago, has taken its roots in the media in general.
Reflecting on the changes, in the country and across globally, that might be shaped by Trump as our next US President, the following list (baker's dozen), a partial at best, is offered. It is based on what he has already said. I reckon we would encounter a more dynamic regime, anxious to undo the transformations during the Obama years, driven by the lack of rationality, manipulated by the Alt-Right, and articulated by Trump with his whimsical seat-of-the-pant exhortations. All such changes will be hurriedly rubber-stamped by the Republican cognoscenti in the Senate and the Congress amidst continued media inertia.
President George W. Bush, methodically, proved how to prevaricate and convince the country to support the Iraq war. Since Trump is incapable of differentiating between facts and untruths, he might just press-roll almost everything using the Bush technique. The campaigns could be so pervasive that it might hark back to the days of Third Reich (Alt-Right remains enthralled by the idea of ethnic cleansing pogroms against the minorities, especially the African-Americans, in the USA.)
The list doesn’t include tax, general policy issues, etc. by choice because Trump has volunteered little.
1. Take stance to build the Wall and wait to put pressure on the Mexican Government for the money for construction.
2. Threaten to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and see what happens in the legislative bodies for financial approval.
3. The African-Americans will suffer more harassment in the hands of authorities (the police, the court systems, DOJ.) No videos will be permitted as evidence and the media, in general, will self-police against such reporting. Maybe, under the Alt-Right enterprise, selective lynching would be reintroduced in Mississippi or Alabama for someone objecting to hoisting the Confederate flag.
4. The Muslims will have serious problems internally and internationally. Nothing might be left to the imagination – starting from the harassment in airplanes, to Immigration process, to Customs and other federal authorities. Perhaps, Guantanamo would be revived and innovative torturous methods would be launched, with the concurrence of a legal professor from a reputable university.
5. Organize processes in the Congress to go after Hillary Clinton for her general crookedness and censor Obama severely for producing a counterfeit birth certificate.
6. Rehire Judith Miller and her editor in the New York Times. The rest of the media will adjust accordingly, if not already to have done so.
7. Turn FED into a political institute – bearer of only Government sponsored leads; same with the Census Bureau. Abolish EPA, Department of Education, IRS, and slim down others, which deigned to have published good news (weekly unemployment reports, recovery of the economy, etc.) during Obama administration.
8. Appoint the ninth Judge in the Supreme Court whose distorted and extra-judicial notions could have embarrassed even Antonin Scalia. Once again, the candidate would be from the Alt-Right. Thus, more substances would be added to the Citizen’s United initiative; Roe vs Wade would be overturned along with the trashing of Obamacare and the voting rights bill. Breaking the mold, an inspired Clarence Thomas might script the majority opinions.
9. Republicans, in general, show great alarm about the annual budget deficits under Democratic Presidents, but not so under Republican leadership, especially in military initiatives and adventures. However, their 'starve the beast' discipline would come into focus in social programs. Women would be given jail time for having abortion.
10. When the country is in Putin camp, demands to service NATO could justifiably be ignored, in preference to a new world order.
11.Nuke North Korea to boost the fear factor in the world, and more importantly in China. Threaten Iran for playing annoying games using their dinghies against the US 5th Fleet. Whisper loudly to the world that any nation that refuse to comport with US views (or Russian, for that matter), would suffer harsh consequences from US drones. Tactfully, this would press-gang Mexico if they decline to pay the money for constructing the Wall.
12. Ann Coulter would be the Secretary of the State, Steve Bannon, the Chief of Staff, and Sean Hannity, the Press Secretary. Much like Dick Cheney, who ran the show under George W. Bush, Steve Bannon might be the star here, albeit always in the background.
13. There will be large-scale revision of history and science books across the land; flow of federal money to the resisting communities will be suspended. Terms like ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Alternative Energy’ could be shunned by the media.