Heaven help us once Trump presidency begins

Whither our nation under Trump?

The great big band singer Helen Forrest had an autobiography called "I Had the Craziest Dream." That title pops up in my mind as I consider the presidential campaign and its outcome. A prediction early-on of Donald Trump's success would have been met with laughter. A couple of Trump's rivals were incredulous in an outward way about Trump's chances. We heard "Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee."

Trump would have seemed equally plausible as the Democratic nominee. He had a record of seeming sympathetic to Democratic Party values. And why not? The guy was associated with New York City.

Now that Trump has won, I personally am quite scared of what is to come, once the guy actually takes the oath. He has no background for this. Being a businessman has nothing in common with holding the reins of government. Being a businessman just means you have mastered the art of screwing people. The purpose of government is to provide services. It's to do the kind of things that cannot be accomplished in the private sector. Government spends money to help people. We saw the system break down in Flint MI.

Trump of course wants to sound aggressive with "national defense." I suppose the leaders of the Empire of Japan were like that too. Trump wants to increase defense spending, perhaps dramatically. We no longer need to have the kind of heavy military designed to defeat the Wermacht. We have no industrial enemies compared to what we faced in the mid-20th Century, thank goodness. Our military of today is designed more for the pinprick type of intervention. I'm not sure how the Middle East can ever be stabilized. We destabilized it with the invasion and subsequent vacuum in Iraq.

If only we had more women in power. Women have a natural nurturing instinct that counters the inclination toward war. The 20th Century was marked by war after war. The "good war" of World War II was followed by unspeakable tragic ventures into sinkhole engagements, taking tens of thousands of lives.

And now we have a new macho, chest-thumping president so skilled at insulting anyone who gets in his way, and he wants to increase military spending. We must do this, he tells us, so "no one will want to push us around." That is chip-on-shoulder rhetoric. Women in power would encourage such a different complexion. Heaven help us all once Trump actually assumes power.

The scariest part might be how he is now seeking to surround himself with the most extreme right wing types. Those people can talk a good political game, getting their "base" of support to eat out of their hand, but my God, what if they actually end up at the levers of government? What might they try to pull off? Considering the personalities, the new administration might end up disintegrating into conflict and back-biting. How dangerous might that become, when such highly-motivated, narcissistic people begin trying to gag each other?

If the nuclear buttons cannot be guarded properly, our very human civilization will be imperiled.

How did this come about? Why did we elect this buffoon Mr. Trump? Many theories have been offered and hashed over. I have needed some time to arrive at my own theory. I do now have one. I suggest that people often vote on impulse. How can Minnesota elect both Paul Wellstone and Michele Bachmann? Rationality must not enter in. We have an impulse to choose a "cool" candidate, the non-boring candidate. People liked Wellstone's TV commercials. Eventually we'd elect Jesse Ventura.

We had been allowing Donald Trump into our living rooms with his TV shows. A sense of familiarity grew. Ronald Reagan had a TV background that probably influenced us in a subtle way. But such is not the basis that should be formed for making us vote.

Hillary Clinton seemed like an old stale product. But if Hillary won (which she actually did via the popular vote), she would have a much more steady hand with the transition now, because she is so much more well-versed with how government works.

My impulse theory is connected to the whole phenomenon of our limited attention span. Our tech toys and conveniences have whittled down our attention span to where it's actually dangerous. Distracted driving kills people. When I was young, boredom was a constant impediment for our well-being and happiness. Boredom today has been completely wiped out. In its place we have a restlessness and impulsivity that can contradict good judgment.

Donald Trump seemed "different" and thus interesting. But different does not equate with insightful or effective. I am predicting now that dire times lie ahead for our United States of America. Of course I could be wrong. Beginning on Day 1 of the Trump presidency, we are all going to be in trouble, I assert. Maybe the U.S. will disintegrate. Lee Greenwood won't even be able to save us (LOL). Maybe we'll be Balkanized. Foreign nations could try to turn the screws on us. Saluting the flag is not going to help. World War Two happened only once. And it was not really a "good war."

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com