Politics is usually a lot of give and take, certainly so in the U.S.   Sometimes pieces of major legislation get through Congress, but they are not earth-shattering and don’t change our society much, even the New Deal.  Local and state politics is much the same, also give and take.  But this country doesn’t change rapidly, nor do most democracies.

Yet, here we are, with a sea change, a transformation of our society happening overnight.  Trump’s political blitzkrieg is reshaping every government department drastically, destroying many, changing radically what government does in the U.S. and trying to eliminate much of it.  Project 2025 was only a warmup.  Its far-right proponents are getting more than they ever hoped for and faster than they ever dreamed possible.  How can this be happening?!

Well, in part, the majority of the country voted for this.  But we’ve had elections before, never with anything close to the consequences of the shift we are experiencing. How can Trump get away with this?  Well, we’ve given him the House, the Senate and the courts.  Republicans in Congress know that much of what Trump is doing is illegal, not to mention outrageous and immoral.  They know that he is usurping the role of Congress in most things he is doing.  But they don’t care, nor do most Trump supporters — surveys show that Trump voters, by and large, approve of what Trump is doing. 

In theory we have a government of checks and balances so nothing can move too swiftly (how many of us are nostalgic for the years of Congressional gridlock).  But this depends critically on one person – the President – acting with some restraint.  During Trump’s first term he had many adults in the room with him to check his impulses.  Now there are no adults in the room – every Trump appointment is a right-wing sycophant and even if the judiciary could provide some checks, they move too slowly to stop the emperor’s edicts from happening – and even when they act, Trump talks of ignoring them.

More to the point, the right has no desire to stop this from happening.  This is their dream!  Overnight he is changing the U.S. into some version of their image of what our society should look like.  The right in Congress, in the judiciary, and in the public are ecstatic, as are most of our oligarchs.  Trump is remaking the USA.  They may not agree with all that he is doing but, by and large—at least for the moment – they are very happy.  It doesn’t matter that he is a narcissistic bully with delusions of grandeur and the impulse control of a 6-year-old.  Maybe they get things that are little extreme even by their standards – like turning Gaza into a Trump resort – what else can you expect from a 6-year-old real estate mogul?  Or deciding he should be culture czar by taking over the Kennedy Center. But the right can live with that and maybe all that is good too.

We’re in deep trouble.  Hopefully, in 4 years (or perhaps 2) enough people will realize that Trump has not helped most people and hurt too many.  But reversing the damage Trump is doing will be very difficult.  I do admit that I would have been happy if this tsunami of change had happened on the left side of the political spectrum.  If someone like Bernie Sanders had been elected and had the power of an imperial presidency to implement things like single-payer health care, early childhood and community college education for all, true national service, a 4-day work week, a universal basic income, etc. – it would be the left’s dream come true.  But till Trump 2.0 the world never worked that way.  Now it does.