With the collective decision of the majority of the American people in the 2024 presidential election, Trump’s America crystallized and is steadily coming into plain view.  Trump won; and whether Americans will be overcome by unfathomable jubilation or there will be buyers’ remorse remains to be seen.

Either way, Trump is moving forward with his plans of “I am your retribution,” and mine, with as much speed as he can muster while dealing with what little resistance he is faced with thus far.  It is obvious that he has instilled fear into the hearts of most of those so-called powerful politicians, journalist, and regular American people that apposed him before the election.

It will be especially interesting to see if those so-called powerful politicians who had the opportunity to spare America from the need to grapple with the ignominious situation that she is in, had they simply done their job on either occasion when The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America was impeached, will be among those who might have buyers’ remorse.

I say this because these politicians said unequivocally that Trump was guilty but, instead of convicting him, chose to pass this responsibility on to someone else.  In the overall scheme of things, whether they did this because they were more interested in remaining in power than they were in honoring their oath of office and severing the American people does not matter.  The bottom line is, if Trump feels that they crossed him in any way or were not completely loyal to him, he will not hold them guiltless: They will be punished.

When he is inaugurated, this time, Trump will be entering office with almost limitless power.  For this, if he is capable of such a thing, he can thank congress and the Supreme Court.  It seems that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump share the same vision of what the presidency should be and the powers that the president should hold.  The Supreme Court supermajority, led by Chief Justice Roberts, provided a tremendous amount of help, crowned by their presidential immunity ruling, in returning Trump to the presidency.

During Chief Justice Roberts early years on the Court, he said the job of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was like that of an umpire calling balls and strikes.  However, in the presidential immunity ruling, it appears that the SCOTUS swung for the fences rather than simply calling balls and strikes.  What a difference that time has made in Chief Justice Roberts.  Or is who he is now who he has always been?

I probed this question in an article that I posted to this site in August of 2015 entitled “Chief Justice John Roberts’ Voting Rights Decision.”  I am no longer conflicted about the answer to this question or who Chief Justice Roberts really is; I now have the answer.  Those who read the article must still decide for themselves with the information that they currently have access to, whether he struggled with his decision to gut the Voting Rights Act back in 2013 and who they believe that Chief Justice John Roberts really is.

With the previously mentioned almost limitless power granted him by the SCOTUS with the assistance of congress, Trump will be seeking to centralize all power in the executive branch of government.  More specifically, he will be seeking to centralize all power in himself.  Chief Justice Roberts and all the other SCOTUS justices are obviously very intelligent people.  And as such, they must be aware, even before his inauguration, of what he is doing.

Ultimately, will the legislative and judicial branches of government maintain their current co-equal powers with the executive branch?  Should the judicial branch be taking careful note of what Trump is demanding that the senate do; allow him to bypass “advice and consent” and allow him to make recess appointments?

If all power is ultimately centralized in the executive branch of government, which will be synonymous with Trump, will Chief Justice Roberts and the rest of the SCOTUS justices be okay with being a rubber stamp branch of government rather than the trusted interpreters of the law, defenders of the Constitution, and strong advocates for the rule of law that they are charged with protecting?  Keep watching.

What Trump is doing looks like a mirror image of what Hungarian president Viktor Orban has already done in his country.  Far too many of the American people have been lulled to sleep by Trump and his dynamic custom made pablum.  Unfortunately, this has not only negatively impacted on Trump supporters but has caused all Americans to become the proverbial frog in the pot.

Those Americans who recognize that this is the situation and desperately want to climb out of the pot before the slowly rising temperature, disguised by Trump pablum and gaslighting, incapacitates us, either do not know how or simply cannot do it because we are leaderless.  And like a submarine that has neither rudder nor propulsion we cannot rise or correct our course; we can only sink.

Trump can neither suppress nor hide his admiration for Viktor Orban.  He is completely enamored and mesmerized by him.  So, like sweat from engaging in vigorous exercise it oozes out of his pores. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that he will not be satisfied until he reflects perfectly in every aspect the image of the object of his admiration.

Hopefully, congress and the SCOTUS will recognize this, correct their course and resist Trump’s attempt to destroy America’s institutions and democracy itself before it is too late to stop him.  If they do this, America will stand a chance of remaining a democracy through our future votes.  If they do not, who knows what will happen?  Only time will tell.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!  Or…

Maybe as Trump said to his constituents during his 2024 campaign for president, you will never have to vote again.

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line