Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)
Inaugural speeches are opportunities to make history. They give a President a chance to be remembered in a good way next to giants. Trump did exactly the opposite. He used his second inauguration to continue a campaign by tearing down the previous administration bit by bit.
Trump didn’t win by a landslide. The percentage of votes proves that. Of course, he’ll try to rewrite that history. Lying about the youth vote is a perfect example. Some might say he’s too conceited not to lie, even though he doesn’t need to. Winning alone gives him the right not to care.
All of this, of course, is if his handlers didn’t get exactly what they wanted, but they did. They did because they govern through division and fear. They want people to wake up in the morning and choose a side. Then, they want both sides to fear what they decided to do.
So the big question is, what are they going to do with the tone they set?
Things like taking on wind towers, soldiers wearing masks, and “drill baby drill” are easy. That isn’t what Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller want. Their goal is to completely change government, so it has no choice but to be ultra-conservative by embedding the federal government with employees that share the philosophy they need.
They’ve already achieved that with the Supreme Court. Now they have work to do on the legislative side. Once achieved, they won’t have to worry about governing after Donald Trump is gone. They’ll have the tools in place to be in charge for generations.
They’re just one call away from getting what they want. And they know all the phone numbers.
Good riding with you,
Joel
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