by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
By definition, the next Republican to be POTUS will ben our first autocrat. They will come into office, destroy what’s left of our democratic norms and we’ll wake up in 20 years and wonder why that same president is invading Canada for some reason.
These days, I really struggle to figure out how I might be wrong about that prediction. Is it possible that we might at least punt the problems associated with our growing fascism problems down the road one more election cycle? I have my doubts. In fact, the only reason why I think it’s even possible is things are just too far out for me to be able to know for sure what is going to happen.
The time between now and 2024 is a really, really long time in politics and anything could happen — anything. We don’t even know if Biden is going to run for a second term yet.
But the safest bet is that 2023 – 2025 could be one of the most tumultuous times in modern American history. It’s safe to say that if DeSantis is the GQP nominee that it’s a lot less likely that we’re going to have a civil war.
And, yet, there is the issue of Donald Trump lurking around. Barring something I really, truly can’t predict, we have to assume that Trump is going to be the Republican nominee in 2024 and, as such, the possibility of a Second American Civil War grows far, far more likely.
But if it’s DeSantis, we will avoid a civil war and slip into a new autocratic era in American history. If we’re lucky, we’ll be something akin to Hungary or Turkey and if we’re not lucky, we endup more like Russia or Nazi Germany. Only time will tell.
