I have lived in the US for the last few years, first in Boston, Massachusetts, and now in Portland, Maine. I came for an opportunity with my company (managed remote teams around America on both coasts, before recently taking leave for health reasons) and the Swiss missus, as her mother, father, and brother moved her at various times based on various circumstances (two sisters and other family still living in Switzerland). Her mother just became a naturalised US citizen so she could vote a few months ago (dual citizenship with Switzerland), her father is American who got Swiss citizenship 30 odd years ago after moving there and marrying her mother, and her brother is working to get citizenship as he just married an American and now lives on the west coast. My family still lives in or around Manchester, London, Zaragoza, and Barcelona (I am one of those ‘splitters’).
And I am indeed worried, mate. We are considering leaving if things get as bad as we fear they will, even though there will be losses if we do, in both new strong relationships built here and likely financial hits based on some investments I made when we came here (beyond the efforts I devoted to my company).
I know a few would reasonably say I am the pessimist of the bunch on this thread. But I have lived and worked in what were current or previous autocratic nations when I was younger and see many parallels in the way things are going. I see how many in the US still don’t seem to be taking notice of the gravity of what has already happened or the dangers on the horizon (or they are frighteningly in support of it). It all makes me extremely nervous.
Don’t worry, mate, if we leave it will likely be to Switzerland at this point.
But make sure to keep a room ready, just in case. ;-)
GOP
Grand Ole Party
As early as the 1870s, politicians and newspapers began to refer to the Republican Party as both the “grand old party...
www.history.com
Roe v Wade
The US Supreme Court case and subsequent decision that effectively laid the legal framework for the legalisation of abortion in America.
Roe v. Wade, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, ruled (7–2) that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. The Court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a constitutional right to privacy.
www.britannica.com
Lame Duck
In this context it refers to a politician that has lost a recent election (or is set to retire or be removed for some other reason) but is still in office for a short period of time until their current term ends, seeing another politician take their office. This is usually used to refer to someone that no longer as a popular mandate (due to losing an election as a sort of referendum on their performance) or de facto power even though they still hold their elected office, since the voters recently voted them out on a future date.
Donald Trump would be a “Lame Duck President” if he lost the upcoming general election, as he would still be in office until January (this is a transition period) but would be replaced thereafter (that is an unfortunate oversimplification this cycle, but we’ll leave it at that for this explanation).
Most of the time, in past political cycles, a ‘lame duck’ status would see the politician take a much more reserved stance and act conservatively, if not deferential, during the period after losing the election but before they officially left office. There are some prominent exceptions to this, but it *was* generally a political norm.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump, if he were to officially lose, is *very* unlikely to take such a stance. He would likely take a scorched earth approach, making sure to do as much damage as possible before he is dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming (or flailing and frothing, in his case).
A ‘Lame Duck’ Trump would be a danger to all. Which is unfortunate, given it is literally now the *best case* scenario available to America.
What is a lame duck? Learn about the lame duck period and how it affects politicians. Find out what significant actions were taken by lame-duck...
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