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Apres la Guerre
After saving her from a marriage that would have been doomed, Benjamin Braddock is in in the back of the bus with Elaine Robinson on their way to who knows where and they both are kind of smiling and have a puzzled yet hopeful look of “what’s next?” on their faces. I am on that bus with them.
And then I thought about where we will go apres la guerre and how we should treat the prisoners and I thought about the guillotine but realized there aren’t enough guillotines to go around. Of course that is assuming that apres la guerre we will be the victors, because the opposite is unthinkable.
Post Trump will not be easy because the dark forces will remain and they are no longer hiding under every rock or in the shadows and they have continued access to a powerful weapon of hatred and conspiracy in the Internet. Just because their unrighteous leader is vanquished to the dustbin of history, they will not go down without a bloody fight. They were here before the advent of Trump and it’s not that there are more of them, it’s just that they’re more visible and brazen because of the support they flaunted. The forces of good were able to keep them pretty much in line in the past and they will again because the majority of us are not allied with the darkness.
This time, the emperor stands naked and all of his subjects have been stripped naked, with their bigotry, hatred, misogyny, xenophobia and racism all in the open and there is no ignoring it anymore, no more hope of reconciliation because we now know the chips are way too high and another loss would be the end of any meaningful nation. The gap between those who would build up and those who would destroy has grown too large and the challenge is to never allow those dark forces to recoup and regain strength again.
So no, there will be no letting bygones be bygones, no burying the hatchet, no making nice or kissy faces, no forgive and forget, no reconciliation, no patching things up, no peacemaking, no peace pipe smoking, no slate wiping, no agreeing to disagree, no amnesty, no acquittal, no cheek turning, no forgiveness, no olive branch holding, no grudge dropping, no hand shaking, no truce, no peace declarations, no slate wiping, no settling of differences, no deals, no negotiations, at least not with the true people of darkness.
We will keep our guards up and we must be prepared to react to the slightest provocation or effort to wreck the values we cherish. We should keep the door open to talk of differences and seek resolution but we will not allow the door to be rammed open and someone’s idea of justice rammed down our throats. Of course, this is all predicated on a newfound, Democratic majority in the Senate, without which the future would be once again unsettled with storm clouds everywhere.
I am no Pollyanna, I am not overly naive, I wear no rose colored glasses, I harbor no excessive optimism and I do not live in a dream world. I am hopeful but my hope is tempered by reality and experience.
I do expect that President Biden will be a man of character who will try to help heal the wounds. He will not exacerbate and promote the divisions for his own political gain and to the detriment of the country. He will not use his high office and great powers to embellish his own private coffers. He will not be corrupted by special interest and will not craft policies like excessive tax cuts for the wealthy, the very people who do not need their taxes cut.
He will not act in immoral ways but rather will project an image of kindness where it is warranted and toughness where it is called for. Biden will not further push away allies and cuddle up to those who would destroy our way of life and he will bring a lifetime of real experience in world affairs. Science will no longer be a target to be used for political gain but rather science will be supported and Biden will seek real, legitimate answers.
I hold no false expectations for the new Biden administration but he will be like night is to day compared to what we have endured for the last four years. Neither Biden nor anyone else will be able to destroy the negativity and hatred that so many people feel but at least they will no longer be fed and promoted from the highest levels.
Biden will be a moderate, not a voice for the wholesale changes the nation and world needs to survive. He will be a bridge to greater positive change. There will be modest gains in areas like gun control, the environment, the opioid crisis and access to health care. He will not deal with concerns over immigration by building walls and feeding the fires of prejudice and fear. Rather I expect the next four years will see changes in immigration laws that will be more humane and fair.
I don’t expect any grand plan and no colossal expenditures to fight climate change. I don’t expect any widespread revisions in the law enforcement system to adequately address a system where the police can too often kill people of color with no punishment. But I do hope to see incremental changes in areas such as police training and accountability.
I expect there will be no dramatic shift in income inequality and we will not be beating our swords into ploughshares any time soon. I don’t expect true universal health care or any overarching efforts to end inequality in education, health care and so many other areas.
This will be a period of rebuilding the national spirit without the craven, cruel opportunism of the Trump years.