It's true. The Electoral College electors have more discretion than you expect. Many can defy the wishes of their states, either at will or by paying a fine. It's true. Trump's clear conflicts of interest are constitutional violations that should void him from taking office. It's true. There are recounts in several key states that have at least a technical possibility of shifting them to the Clinton column.
But none of that is likely to happen. It is pretty much a dead certainty that we are looking at a Trump administration come Inaugural Day. Friday, January 20, will begin a new chapter in American life. Some of us are looking forward to it. Others of us, like myself, are dreading it with every fiber of our being.
But what does it really mean?
Well, it's hard to say. Donald Trump is not exactly a paragon of consistency in what he has to say. His policy positions, such as they are, have been all over the map. He's capable of not only contradicting himself from one day to the next, he's capable of contradicting himself within the same sentence.
He appears to have backtracked on the Wall, on the Muslim ban, and on pursuing prosecuting his opponent. If he doesn't pursue these things, that's all pluses in my book, but his true believers may not be as happy. Or maybe they don't care. I honestly can't figure it out. Time will tell whether these changes are important to them or not.
So it's impossible to listen to his verbiage and tell what he's really going to do. Instead, a better tell might be who he is or isn't picking for his staff and cabinet.
His chief of staff is Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee Chairman. This is an outreach to the Republican leadership in Congress. This indicates he may be receptive to the agenda of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, which includes repealing Obamacare, eliminating Medicaid, and privatizing both Medicare and Social Security. This means shredding the safety net that helps shore up the working class of this country. Whatever replaces all this will be more costly (possibly for the government but definitely for individuals) and less certain. I don't believe that's what many of the people who voted for Trump intended. You would think it would upset them. But I'm not sure. Only time will tell whether these changes will concern them or not.
His Chief Strategist will be Stephen Bannon. This is an important placement for the alt-right supporters of Trump. Stephen Bannon has been called a White Nationalist and is the main force behind Breitbart, a website filled with spectacularly provocative headlines, and one of the sites being accused of perpetuating the false news stories that have been so damaging to our process. His placement does not bode well for a Presidency that will reach out to all Americans, but instead turn back social progress and civil rights. This may bother some Trump supporters, many of whom don't primarily consider themselves racist. Or it may not. I don't know. Only time will tell whether racism from the White House bothers them or not.
The theme of his Cabinet appointments has been mostly "dismantle and privatize". Rather than drain the swamp, he has refilled it mostly with Wall Streeters and the wealthy. His focus rather seems to be on how to help corporations and the wealthy profit from the government. The proposed Education Secretary, Betty DeVos, wants to destroy public education and replace it with privatized charter schools. The proposed Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is a visceral opponent of civil rights legislation. The man to lead the EPA transition, Myron Ebell, doesn't believe in global warming or the EPA. Other proposed nominees are billionaires and millionaires, some of whom who have gotten rich by exploiting the poor and disadvantaged. Some of you may be cheering this. Some of you may be very worried. I can't predict how the Trump fans will react to all this. Only time will tell.
Some things may work out. We may finally get some infrastructure improvement. He may figure out a way to return some manufacturing jobs. I fear what he does will be mostly scams, short term solutions, and smoke and mirrors. But let's give him a chance on this.
It's completely up in the air as to where he really will be on foreign policy - are we headed to increased isolationism or multiple wars? I honestly have no clue. Of all of his mixed messaging, this is by far the most mixed.
So what happens next? And how will his supporters react? I have suspicions, and they aren't pretty. But I won't give up hope. I will still pray for the best. And whatever side of the partisan divide we are on, I hope we can all agree on that.
