What Could Stop Him? | David Cole
Almost like the cycles of grief, Donald Trump’s reelection has provoked shock, outrage, despondency, exhaustion, and despair. And for good reason. Trump’s first term was a four-year disaster, culminating in his effort to foment a riot to overturn the results of a free and fair election. This time around, there are fears that he will, among other things, prosecute his enemies, conduct mass deportations, further restrict access to abortion, censor school curricula, remove civil service protections, impose high tariffs, and strip birthright citizenship from children of immigrants. He threatened as much repeatedly during the campaign, and his first term in office suggests that he does not make idle threats. This time, moreover, he won not just the skewed electoral college but the popular vote (albeit by a very small margin). He will have Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and a 6–3 majority on the Supreme Court, including three of his own appointees. And his cabinet and staff nominees to date—including many people whose only qualification for office is their blind loyalty and extremist …
