Here’s what it could look like, that is unless Republicans remove Trump or are replaced by Republicans not tethered to him or by Democrats. 

Due to Trump’s gutting of five national security and cyber defense agencies, our power grids could be disabled, leaving millions of people and businesses without electricity. 

Our banking system could be disrupted:

• Taxes couldn’t be collected, preventing the government from carrying out its functions.
• Credit and debit card transactions will fail, leaving many unable to buy groceries, gasoline, and medicine.
• Businesses will accept cash only. That is if they can make change. 
• ATMs will run out of cash.
• It will be near impossible to pay suppliers.
• Payroll services will cease to function.
• There will be runs on banks for cash. 
• Online and mobile banking will be unavailable,  
• Stock and bond markets will experience trading freezes. 
• Stock prices will plummet.  
• Benefit payments (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, food assistance ) will be delayed indefinitel. 
• Cross-border payments by banks will be disabled, slowing down international trade.
• Consumer spending will be crippled.
• Recession is almost a certainty. 
• And, yes, another depression given the absence of experienced experts in Trump’s cabinet.

Chaos from cyber-attacks would disable America’s communications systems and would be difficult to mitigate. They would interrupt:

• Home and business internet access, 
• Cloud-based services, 

• Phone connections over FiOS and cell towers,
• Most telephone line enabled phone calls,
• GPS navigation, and
• Aviation communications.

Given Trump’s devotion to Putin over Zalenski, hisreduction of military aid to Ukraine, and his pressure on Zelensky to agree to unconscionable terms for peace, it’s not beyond Trump to hand Ukraine to Putin and give him a pass to  invade European NATO members. As former US Secretaries of State and Defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates warned, “to avoid confrontation with Russia, the U.S. must help Ukraine push back the invader now…. If this lesson is ignored and Ukraine is defeated, Russia will almost certainly … attack NATO member countries.” 

Trump’s decision will be informed by several issues. Americans’ support for defending NATO members against a Russian invasion varies depending on which member is attacked. Only 35 percent support using military force to defend Latvia and Croatia. Less than half support a direct military confrontation in all other NATO members except in Germany, France and Great Britain.

By contrast, 82 percent of Russians have supported Putin’s prior invasions. His ratings rose to 84 percent during the second war in Chechnya and to 88 percent after he annexed Crimea

At home however, the Iran war is so unpopular that Trump won’t want to embark on a similar adventure. It has also weakened America’s military readiness that would make a U.S. victory against Russia tortuous and near impossible. 

Although Trump recently joined other NATO leaders in affirming ​an “ironclad commitment” to defend NATO, we know that Trump has broken more promises than he’s kept. And when he’s back in DC and not wanting to shame himself in front of NATO leaders, we’re bound to hear another hedge instead of a commitment. Perhaps he’ll assure us that the invasion will “disappear like a miracle,” like he said about the Covid pandemic.  

I can’t conclude this article without noting that this is what Trump’s Republicans have wrought. They’ve been the only elected officials who could have prevented the carnage. It’s not too late for them to prevent the worst outcomes. But they’d have to grow spines and elevate what’s good for America over keeping their jobs. 

They should take a lesson from Matthew 16:26, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” But Republicans are sacrificing their soul — not for the whole world — but to accommodate a rogue President in order to keep their seats in Congress which they’ve elevated above their Constitutional duty to accommodate the will of your constituents and the rest of America.

So America needs to replace Republicans tethered to Trump with Republicans not on his leash, or with Democrats. There’s never a more urgent need remove a president as quickly as possible. 

Twitter (X): https://x.com/ChaosPolicy/status/2074990161797230852?s=20

The post MAYBE AMERICA NEEDS TO HIT ROCK BOTTOM BEFORE WE CAN FIX IT first appeared on Inside The Political Chaos.

Many of Trump’s decisions are triggered by anger unrelated to the issue at hand or by revenge against those who he believes mistreated. Neither has anything to do with the issue at hand.

It took the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, to prevent  Trump from misusing the country’s nuclear arsenal in the last month of his presidency, presumingly out of anger at losing the presidential election and not in reaction to a perceived threat. Milley received intelligence that China was worried about an attack. To avoid a crisis, he called the head of China’s military to assure him there was no such plan. Trump’s anger can flare up at anything, and there will be no Milley there to stop him next time. Only the sex-offending, alcoholic, unqualified Fox News co-host.

He sprung his 2017 tariffs on our allies out of outrage over Hope Hicks’ testimony regarding Russia’s election interference and the treatment of his son-in-law by his chief of staff. He gave no vetted explanations for the tariffs and had no plan to alert foreign trade partners or Congress. No one at the State, Treasury or Defense Departments were notified about the tariffs ahead of the announcement.

Trump was enraged at Barak Obama for mocking him at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ dinner. He sought revenge by trying to undo all Obama had accomplished, no matter how much the country would suffer. 

He’s been on a mission to overturn Obamacare for years, not because it wasn’t good for Americans, but out of revenge. It would have lost 23.1 million Americans their health insurance and no one would be covered for preexisting conditions. Because he didn’t have the votes, he sabotaged it by cancelling a provision that lowered premiums and halved its enrollment period, and more than 2 million people including 700 children lost their insurance – done purely for revenge against Obama. 

He exited the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement Obama negotiated with eleven Pacific rim countries that excluded China. It would have eliminated 18,000 tariffs on American exports and established stronger labor standards and environmental protections that would have put state-owned enterprises on a level playing field with U.S. businesses. After Trump pulled out, China stepped in and took our place. The result: Trump gifted one-third of global trade to China. 

Trump’s obsession with revenge is ongoing. He’s had his Justice Department launch vindictive, spurious and unsuccessful prosecutions and investigations of at least ten respected and devoted public officials who served America well. His motive of retribution is why no career or appointed prosecutor had ever agreed to do his bidding. 

The energy, fury and government resources Trump devotes to his retribution and their irrelevance to what’s best for America tragically misguide his decisions. His danger is unprecedented.  Tragically, his subjugated Republicans in Congress tolerate and enable him.  

The post TRUMP’S DECISIONS ARE TRIGGERED BY ANGER UNRELATED TO THE ISSUE AT HAND. THAT MAKES HIM A NUCLEAR RISK. first appeared on Inside The Political Chaos.