They will be worse off if they lose benefits like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP. They will be worse off if prices don't go down and the wealth inequality increases after the billionaires get their tax breaks. They will be worse off if deregulation increases pollution and unchecked climate change causes more severe natural disasters. They will be worse off if they lose their health insurance, abortion bans keep killing women who don't need to die and anti-vax mandates bring back diseases that were under control. To name just a few things that could get worse under Trump 2.0.

Let's see what Trump and the GOP-backed oligarghy do for the voters in Youngstown and all the other towns like it in the Rust Belt. I fear these voters are in for a rude awakening.

FTA:

It's rarely even mentioned that Trump's 2024 grind toward a second term included his should-have-been-shocking pledge to roll back climate regulations if Big Oil would raise $1 billion to fund his campaign. The target was overly ambitious, but many energy millionaires did open their wallets. And the president-elect has now made clear that more fossil fuels and less clean energy will be his legacy, with or without Greenland.

Lost in the hoopla over Trump's worst and most bat-guano crazy cabinet picks, like weekend TV host Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon, is that the president-elect's less-controversial choices for key energy posts will speed the fiery destruction of our planet.

These include Russell Vought, the Christian nationalist Project 2025 author tapped to head Trump's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), who's vowed to weaken and undermine the next mandated National Climate Assessment; the oil field executive Chris Wright, who last year posted to his LinkedIn that "there is no climate crisis," as his energy secretary; and politico Lee Zeldin, who wants a "radical rollback" of regulations, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

We don't yet know if Trump's Marines will be storming Panama, but it's a done deal that his bureaucrats will withdraw from the Paris climate accords, again. Although it's true that market forces have been and may continue to boost clean energy, don't discount the religious fervor among the right that sees fossil-fuel extraction as God's greatest handiwork. With little fanfare, the Republicans who run Oklahoma are actually striving to ban clean energy, in what could be a template for Beltway zealots.

"may just listen"

Sorry, but I don't think Trump will listen to anything Obama has to say. I don't think Trump is inclined to listen to anyone because he thinks he knows more than everyone else, and the Supreme Court ruling pretty much insured he never has to.

Karen Pence would've been happier to see Bin Laden than the-------------.
#45 | Posted by reinheitsgebot

Probably because Trump and his insurrectionists came closer to killing her, her husband and her family than Bin Laden and his terrorists did.

No. We are laughing at Dems/lefties who have been calling him Hitler and worse to then see one of the left's idols talking politely with him.
It's almost as if the terrible rhetoric doesn't match reality.
#25 | Posted by BellRinger

Are you forgetting all the times Trump called Democrats fascists? Sure looks like it. Par for the course.

I'd like to think that Obama has the wisdom to recognize that if he leaves that door of communication open, Trump will pick up the phone when he calls and may just listen to what Barack has to say at some critical moment for America. Fitting to see this at Jimmy Carters funeral.
#41 | Posted by Miranda7

I agree it is fitting that Obama was polite at Carter's funeral, I don't believe there is snowballs chanch in hell that DonOLD will ever call Obama at "a critical moment for America". After repeatedly calling Carter the worst president in history, until Biden came along, why did Trump even bother to show up at his funeral. All he did was fall asleep anyway. And in so many of the photos from that day, one of these was people was not like the others (everyone laughing/smiling except Trump, everyone holding their hand over their hearts except Trump). I think Michael Steele had it right yesterday on Morning Joe:

Morning Joe' Meltdown as Michael Steele Slams Joe & Mika Over Trump

On Friday's Morning Joe, Steele added, "The reality is, no, you are using the term civil. I'm using your term, you put civility on the table ... My main point is, everybody is looking at this from a one-way perspective; how we need to approach Donald Trump. How is he approaching us?"

"The man wants to lock up citizens, the man wants to turn the government against them, how are we supposed to respond to that? Are we supposed to be civil?" Steele stated.

They probably put Barack next to Trump because they knew he would be polite, but politeness can be over-rated:

Politicians past and present gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, walked past his former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, who were sitting alongside another former vice president, Al Gore.

They probably put Barack next to Trump because they knew he would be polite, but politeness can be over-rated:

Politicians past and present gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, walked past his former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, who were sitting alongside another former vice president, Al Gore.

Lots of good advice here for surviving the next 4 years. Some examples:

Be Proactive. Defeating authoritarianism will require a movement of dedicated citizens. Get involved in your community. Show up to protests and meetings. If you can, donate to organizations doing crucial pro-democracy work. You have more power than you think. Resolve to get involved. Build local power! Authoritarian regimes gain strength by undermining local institutions and ignoring community voices. Participate in your city council, school board, or neighborhood association. Support candidates, companies, and initiatives that prioritize democratic values at the local level. A strong democracy starts with empowered communities.

Don't argue with his supporters. It doesn't work. Your chances of converting a pro-Trump voter are virtually zero. At this point, their support for him is a physical structure in their brains. Instead of arguing with Trump supporters, focus on motivating fellow pro-democracy citizens to get more active.

Remember: This is a regime. Trump is not acting alone. He is a puppet of powerful would-be oligarchs who want a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires. Elon Musk's role as Trump's co-president is already creating tension among Trump's supporters. When the American people realize that the country is being run for the benefit of a handful of greedy billionaires, the tide will turn. Expose them.

Now, how does it exactly work that Donald and MAGA can plot for enormous territorial expansion and still claim to be the peacemakers?
It doesn't. Issues of war are one of the prime things that Donald and MAGA simply lie about, without a second thought.
Some of you may recall that the -------- discussed making Iraq an American protectorate back in the not-so-distant past.
That's when MAGA were known as neo-cons.
Now, how does it exactly work that modern MAGA now distances themselves from the neo-cons and professes loathing for them?
It doesn't. Issues of war are one of the prime things that Donald and MAGA simply lie about, without a second thought.
#28 | Posted by Zed

You've nailed it, Zed. This is just the old GOP imperialist w(h)ine in new Trumpia/MAGA w(h)ine skins:

Trump's bizarre insistence on "territorial expansion," as the mainstream media describes it in rather euphemistic fashion, can similarly serve as a window into how the MAGA Right sees the world and America's place in it. The Trumpists are definitely all in: Marjorie Taylor Greene has already announced she will introduce legislation to make the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." Senator Tommy Tuberville says "We've gotta take the Panama Canal back." Fox News propaganda is emphasizing the need to annex Greenland "for war purposes," Elon Musk is X-tweeting about Greenland, and the wannabe-thought leaders on the extreme Right are running with the idea that acquiring Greenland should be "a major priority" for Trump.

This is partly just the work of sycophants who are hoping to curry favor with their Dear Leader. But this isn't just about Trump and his bonkers ideas. One reason why his imperialist ramblings resonate so much with the Right is that there is a long tradition of such expansionist desires. . . .

To the extent Trumpism has a clear idea about America's role in the world, it is in line with this "America First" tradition. I doubt Trump's obsession with Greenland comes from reading Buchanan--or reading anything at all. But it doesn't necessitate much sophisticated analysis to understand why such dreams of territorial expansion would appeal to him. As a political project, Trumpism promises to restore former glory by purging dangerous outsiders and the "enemy within" from the nation--and by ruthlessly asserting dominance in the world wherever and whenever America wants.

Trumpism is, in many ways, much more a continuation of long-standing ideas and impulses on the radical Right --an exacerbation and radicalization, yes, but not a departure. If we pay attention, his most outlandish ramblings can help us identify those dangerous tendencies and impulses more clearly.

FTA:

A key challenge of our era has been to resist the temptation to constantly rage against Trump's latest antics--while making sure the silliness and buffoonery of Trumpism doesn't obscure how extreme and dangerous the situation is. We must not allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security by the clownishness, the ridiculousness of this man and many of his most vocal followers. . . .

As we are all facing life under a clownish wannabe-authoritarian, it is worth grappling in earnest with the question of how we should calibrate our reactions to Trump. Some may think the "savvy" thing would be to just ignore his outlandish ramblings. As observers and citizens, we indeed need to be judicious about where we focus our energies. But Trump is not some fringe extremist online provocateur who is best dealt with by not dealing with him. And when people reflexively declare his public utterances a distraction, I sometimes find myself wondering: A distraction from what? Let's not pretend the Trumpian drama is just noise than can be neatly separated from the *real* work of doing politics. There is a fine line between staying focused on the bigger picture and clinging to a version of "normalcy" that has little to do with a political reality shaped and distorted by Trumpian extremism. The president's words have power, Trump is about to be president --and he comes with a whole machinery of rightwing activists, intellectuals, and media propagandists who will do as he says and do their best to make sure reality adjusts.

Then again, there is little use in being outraged all the time. It is exhausting, mentally and emotionally. Trump won't stop. We should not let him dictate the conversation so easily. There is also a risk of perpetuating the assertions of dominance behind Trump's musings. Not much separates raging at his every word from despairing over our supposedly hopeless situation. MAGA desires to project power and strength-- something we should subvert rather than confirm. Let's not indulge the false bravado.