Post Trump Trauma Is Real

Before the afternoon of January 20, 2021, I have had a daily sense of dread. What is President Donald John Trump going to do and how bad will it be for the world?

In the two weeks leading up to the inauguration of President Joe Biden, I wondered would the man who around 80 million people voted for be installed as president? I had waited patiently for four years for Trump to be gone... but would he truly be gone? Even though Biden was declared the victor on Nov. 7, the long awaited inauguration of a new leader certainly felt that it might not happen.

The dread became crippling on January 6, 2021, when Trump's words incited an insurrection where pro-Trump supporters, white nationalists, and followers of Q-anon and many other groups that lean right, stormed the United States Capitol building.

Prior to January 6, Trump and his supporters were proudly proclaiming they had won and that the election was a sham the "likes of which we had never seen." This has become known as The Big Lie.

Still, his legion of supporters gathered in Washington DC... just as he had requested they do on Jan. 6. They listened to Trump, Rudy Guiliani, Donald Jr. and several pro-Trumpsters. Every speaker's message was clearly the same. Those that gathered must fight if they want to keep their country and way of life. They must keep Donald J. Trump in office to make those dreams of keeping their way of life complete.

Trump, mad that Vice President Mike Pence didn't stop the certification by Congress of the electoral college vote declaring Joe Biden the winner, called on his supporters to walk to the Capitol building and let their voices be heard. He said he would be with them.

As the angered mob marched to Capitol Hill, Trump, his family and henchmen went back to the White House to settle in and watch what they created.

As the mob stormed their way into the building, they could be heard seeking out Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Any Democrat or person who stood in the way of Trump retaking the presidency should fear getting nabbed by the mob and face the gallows they had set up outside. Many used flag poles or fists or whatever could be found to force fear on the leaders.

It turned ugly. It was abhorrent. Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly glued to the coverage of the event back at the White House. Despite it all, Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz and close to 150 GOP Congressman still planned to oppose the confirmation of the electoral college vote. It was an apparent coup attempt.

While the nation, and the world for that matter, watched on horrified, Trump seemed forced in to telling the rioters to stop. much like we he told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand down during the first presidential debate. Trump said he loved the rioters, they were special but go home.

In the days that followed, the American public stood horrified. Would Trump try again? Would the followers, who were getting arrested and publicly shamed, try again? Could it get worse? Would they try something in the days leading up to the inauguration of Biden?

The whole insurrectist event was a kind of cherry on top of the disaster that was the Trump presidency. If you have years of shenanigans boiling up, you're going to get burned by the shenanigans eventually.

As of January 23, Trump is back in Florida. A former president. He was mostly silent in the last two weeks he was in office after the insurrection. We never heard a peep from Donald Jr - who along with daughter Ivanka hoped to ride his daddy's coattails again to public office - nor Guiliani.

And thank goodness.

There was still reason to be fearful, but democracy and cooler heads prevailed. There are adults back in the White House.