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I’m a public figure. I’ve been a public figure for a while now. And because I’m a public figure, I’m asked all the time for my take on things. And I’m asked all the time if we’ll recover—if this nation will recover from these Trump years, from the two Trump presidencies. And my answer is, I don’t know. I really don’t know.
Now, many of you know I tend to be a dark Irishman. I tend to believe that this country I adore, this 250-year-old experiment in democracy and self-rule, might not make it. I’m asked a lot whether I’m bullish or bearish on this experiment surviving and thriving. And I generally say I don’t know. But I’ve been very public as well over the years in saying that I don’t think so.
Now that may be an odd answer coming from someone who’s out there every day fighting the good fight to preserve and defend our democracy and the rule of law. ”I don’t think this experiment will survive” may sound like an odd answer coming from someone who’s crossing the country every two weeks and putting people who disagree in a room to have honest, tough conversations—even though we may never agree. Because a people that just hates each other? I know that kind of a country can’t survive.
So I’m generally pessimistic on America. I’m more bearish on America. I’m more realistic on America. It’s always been my belief that this gift we’ve been given—this unique experiment in democracy, self-rule, and pluralism; this constitutional republic; all that our founding generation and subsequent generations sacrificed to keep this thing going—might not continue. But I say I’m realistic because I have always felt as Thomas Jefferson felt when he said that it’s going to take blood. It’s going to take the blood of patriots. It’s going to take the blood of the American people every now and then to keep this thing going.
I’ve always believed that. I’ve always believed about this gift we were given that every few generations, we’re going to have to fight to keep it—if we want. Blood will have to be shed to keep it—if we want. I’ve always believed that. Our founders believed that. And I believe it. Our founders believed it because this was such an incredibly unique, unprecedented form of government that they created. They did not expect it to last without a real fight every few generations. So that’s always been my mindset, too.
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But when I think about whether we’ll get through these Trump years, whether we’ll make it through these Trump years, whether we’ll recover from these Trump years, I honestly don’t know, and I don’t think so. And what prompted this question in my head again is, I watched Trump on Wednesday morning. I watched the worst American who’s ever lived giving a commencement address in front of graduates at the Coast Guard Academy. And there’s the President of the United States doing what he’s done repeatedly: delivering an ugly, political, divisive, partisan speech. All about him. All about how much Democrats suck. In front of our men and women in uniform. At their graduation.
There’s Trump delivering a speech that he has delivered at thousands and thousands of his rallies. And as I watched that, and caught excerpts of it, I thought to myself, “Here we go again.” So many young Americans are going to believe that this is normal—that it’s normal for a President to deliver a divisive partisan speech in front of our troops, in front of our men and women in uniform. So many young Americans are going to think it’s just normal. It’s not. It goes against every ounce of protocol, every norm, every expectation of decency. It goes against every Pentagon rule, protocol, and norm.
We are one country. And when the President of the United States delivers an address to our men and women in uniform, he does not deliver political addresses. He does not deliver campaign rally speeches. He speaks to them all, whether they’re Republicans, Democrats, or independents. He speaks to them as Americans. It’s been the rule, the norm, the protocol, the law that a President doesn’t deliver a partisan political speech in front of our troops.
But we’ve normalized Trump. We’ve so normalized his busting of norms and institutions. We’ve so normalized his corruption, right out in front of us. Every single day, there’s an act of public corruption. He’s using his office wantonly and openly to enrich himself personally. We’ve normalized his obscene public corruption, his lawlessness, his indecency, his cruelty, his authoritarianism, his ignorance, his dishonesty. He lies every time he opens his mouth, and I can’t tell you the number of folks I’ve spoken to over the last number of years who’ve responded with, “Joe, all politicians lie.”
Will we recover? Will this nation recover from the damage that Trump has done? I don’t know. I don’t think so. What I do know is it’s going to be a long difficult road back to decency; to condemning corruption; to enforcing the rule of law; to demanding that our President speaks the truth; to demanding that our President is not a cruel, indecent jagoff; to demanding that our President doesn’t openly use his office to enrich himself and his family. The normalization of Donald Trump and all of his horribleness has made the possibility of America finding its way back after these Trump years extremely difficult. Because we’ve normalized him.
Judd Legum, a great follow, writes “Popular Information [ [link removed] ],” and he listed all the media outlets that have written about Donald Trump’s corruption, about how Trump has enriched himself and his family personally, about how he settled with the IRS, and about how the IRS can never, ever look into his taxes. And Judd Legum discovered barely a mention in the legacy media. We’ve just normalized it. And my fear has always been that the American people, especially young people, now think that who and what Trump is is normal and is to be condoned, or at least is okay and is to be accepted.
A President without any accountability, a President who can do whatever he wants, a President who, yes, can be a king and a dictator—we’ve normalized this. It’s gonna be a hell of a difficult road to unwind this, if we can. And I’m not sure we can.
Thanks for listening. I am Joe Walsh.
Be brave,
This Week on The Social Contract
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Tuesday with Xander Schultz [ [link removed] ] (click if you missed it)
Wednesday with Jim Acosta [ [link removed] ] (click if you missed it)
Thursday, 4pm ET: “Unvarnished” with Edwin Eisendrath
Thursday, 6pm ET: “Tequila Talk” with Cliff Schecter
Thursday, 7pm ET: AMA for paid subscribers
Friday, noon ET: “Welcome to the Party, Pal!” with Mike Nellis
INTERVIEWS & QUOTES FROM THE PAST WEEK:
Donald Trump, Thomas Massie, and the Long, Slow Death of the Tea Party [ [link removed] ] —Reason
The GOP Is the Party of Sore Losers: Ex-Republican Congressman [ [link removed] ] —AlterNet
The U.S. Attorney General Said There May Never Be a Definitive Answer as to Whether the 2020 Election Was Stolen [ [link removed] ] —The Poke
Trump Jolts as He Accuses Reporter of Committing ‘Crime You Can Be Hanged For’ [ [link removed] ] —Raw Story
President JD Vance? Candace Owens, MTG, and CIA Chiefs Demand 25th Amendment to Remove ‘Unhinged’ Donald Trump [ [link removed] ] —International Business Times
Ex-Trumper: People Keep Lowering the Bar So Trump Won’t Look Terrible [ [link removed] ] —AlterNet
JD Vance Denied That Trump Said He Doesn’t Think About Americans’ Financial Situations, But the Internet Brought Receipts [ [link removed] ] —The Poke
Klepper Mocks Trump Over Oval Office ‘Napping’ Defense [ [link removed] ] —MSN
Power Families of Chicago [ [link removed] ] —Crain’s Chicago Business
The Social Contract with Joe Walsh is a citizen-supported movement resisting authoritarianism and restoring classic American values like civic engagement, tolerance, and mutual respect. To join our community [ [link removed] ], sign up to be a free subscriber. To support our mission [ [link removed] ], please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you!
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