Does anyone remember the Republican predictions of disaster
during the last eight years? They warned us what could happen if Obama
was elected President and if Congress was controlled by Democrats. Let
me list my personal top ten:
1. The Second Amendment will be abolished and all guns will be confiscated.
2. Legal gay marriage will destroy the institution of marriage and our country.
3. The Affordable Care Act will create "Death Panels".
4. Gas prices will soar over $5 or even up to $10 a gallon.
5. Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will destroy our military.
6. Our homeland will be attacked by Al- Qaeda again.
7. The ACA will kill jobs.
8. The auto bailout will destroy that industry.
9. Raising the minimum wage will destroy jobs.
10. Defense cuts will leave us defenseless.
I purposely left out the Zombie Apocalypse. Anyway, none of those predictions for disaster came true, yet millions believed them and feared the worst. As prophets of doom, Republicans have a poor track record. Now the tables have been turned. It is the Republicans who control both houses and even the Presidency. Certainly one of Trump's first actions will be appointing a new conservative justice to the Supreme Court. Any death of a remaining left-of-center justice will mean a replacement with a hard-right justice, and give Republicans carte blanche to do any goddamn thing they want. With still over a month to go before the inaugural, millions of American citizens fear for their lives and the future of their children. Millions of women fear that they will not only lose the right to choose, but even the right to access of birth control. The following is a list of my top ten dire predictions for the next four years with apologies to David Letterman:
1. Congress will pass a law outlawing abortion with no exceptions. The Supreme Court will rule it Constitutional, striking down Roe vs. Wade.
2. Muslims will be required to register, wear ID badges, and all foreign Muslims will be banned from entering the country.
3. Jim Crow-like voter ID laws will be passed in many states and go unchallenged by the Department of Justice or the Supreme Court, effectively nullifying the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
4. Families of illegal immigrants will be rounded up and deported which means that American citizens will be forced to leave as well as illegals.
5. A wall will be built on our southern border using funds taken from departments other than Homeland Security. After Mexico refuses to pay for it, Trump then sells advertising space on the wall in both English and Spanish.
6. The KKK will stage a march in Washington D.C. to celebrate Trump's inauguration. Incidents of violence against minorities soar.
7. At Trump's urging Congress passes new laws restricting free speech and freedom of the press that are upheld by the Supreme Court stripping away the last remnants of the first amendment.
8. Congress will pass a law outlawing Gay marriage. Another bill outlawing interracial marriage fails to make it to the House floor.
9. The EPA will be abolished and any funding for research into climate change will be denied. Water and air pollution increase exponentially. America backs out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
10. Real wages decline, more wealth becomes concentrated at the top of our society thanks to new tax laws, and the middle class continues to shrink.
There is one thing that I wanted to include, but it's external to our country so I didn't mention it in my top ten because it involves foreign policy. I really do fear unchecked Russian expansion during a Trump Presidency. I would hardly be surprised if Putin grabs Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, in addition to finishing up what he started in the Ukraine by annexing that country completely. I don't think it's even a matter of having a backbone or not. Trump owes Putin for helping him get elected and letting him do business in Russia. It will be interesting to see how Trump spins his lack of response to a more aggressive and expansionist Russia.
Am I being paranoid? Am I a whiny loser? Am I a refuge of the Sixties that can't accept defeat and the new order of a conservative controlled government? Maybe I am. I'm certainly not trying to stoke up fear of what might happen in the next four years. The fear is already here. Acts of violence against minorities are already on the rise. Trump's cabinet appointees appear to be ready to enact many of his campaign promises that so many people dismissed as just rhetoric. All of those dire predictions of disaster for Obama's Presidency never came true. I just hope and pray that my predictions don't come true either.
1. The Second Amendment will be abolished and all guns will be confiscated.
2. Legal gay marriage will destroy the institution of marriage and our country.
3. The Affordable Care Act will create "Death Panels".
4. Gas prices will soar over $5 or even up to $10 a gallon.
5. Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will destroy our military.
6. Our homeland will be attacked by Al- Qaeda again.
7. The ACA will kill jobs.
8. The auto bailout will destroy that industry.
9. Raising the minimum wage will destroy jobs.
10. Defense cuts will leave us defenseless.
I purposely left out the Zombie Apocalypse. Anyway, none of those predictions for disaster came true, yet millions believed them and feared the worst. As prophets of doom, Republicans have a poor track record. Now the tables have been turned. It is the Republicans who control both houses and even the Presidency. Certainly one of Trump's first actions will be appointing a new conservative justice to the Supreme Court. Any death of a remaining left-of-center justice will mean a replacement with a hard-right justice, and give Republicans carte blanche to do any goddamn thing they want. With still over a month to go before the inaugural, millions of American citizens fear for their lives and the future of their children. Millions of women fear that they will not only lose the right to choose, but even the right to access of birth control. The following is a list of my top ten dire predictions for the next four years with apologies to David Letterman:
1. Congress will pass a law outlawing abortion with no exceptions. The Supreme Court will rule it Constitutional, striking down Roe vs. Wade.
2. Muslims will be required to register, wear ID badges, and all foreign Muslims will be banned from entering the country.
3. Jim Crow-like voter ID laws will be passed in many states and go unchallenged by the Department of Justice or the Supreme Court, effectively nullifying the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
4. Families of illegal immigrants will be rounded up and deported which means that American citizens will be forced to leave as well as illegals.
5. A wall will be built on our southern border using funds taken from departments other than Homeland Security. After Mexico refuses to pay for it, Trump then sells advertising space on the wall in both English and Spanish.
6. The KKK will stage a march in Washington D.C. to celebrate Trump's inauguration. Incidents of violence against minorities soar.
7. At Trump's urging Congress passes new laws restricting free speech and freedom of the press that are upheld by the Supreme Court stripping away the last remnants of the first amendment.
8. Congress will pass a law outlawing Gay marriage. Another bill outlawing interracial marriage fails to make it to the House floor.
9. The EPA will be abolished and any funding for research into climate change will be denied. Water and air pollution increase exponentially. America backs out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
10. Real wages decline, more wealth becomes concentrated at the top of our society thanks to new tax laws, and the middle class continues to shrink.
There is one thing that I wanted to include, but it's external to our country so I didn't mention it in my top ten because it involves foreign policy. I really do fear unchecked Russian expansion during a Trump Presidency. I would hardly be surprised if Putin grabs Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, in addition to finishing up what he started in the Ukraine by annexing that country completely. I don't think it's even a matter of having a backbone or not. Trump owes Putin for helping him get elected and letting him do business in Russia. It will be interesting to see how Trump spins his lack of response to a more aggressive and expansionist Russia.
Am I being paranoid? Am I a whiny loser? Am I a refuge of the Sixties that can't accept defeat and the new order of a conservative controlled government? Maybe I am. I'm certainly not trying to stoke up fear of what might happen in the next four years. The fear is already here. Acts of violence against minorities are already on the rise. Trump's cabinet appointees appear to be ready to enact many of his campaign promises that so many people dismissed as just rhetoric. All of those dire predictions of disaster for Obama's Presidency never came true. I just hope and pray that my predictions don't come true either.
Tim Wayne holds a bachelor's degree in History from San Diego State University and is a published writer and poet.
By
Tim Wayne
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