The Short Term Political Future of the United States of America

It is probable that the influence of President Trump will diminish either before, or because of, the 2018 Congressional elections.

The continuing investigations of his possible criminal actions will impede his focus and may contribute to his initiating some irresponsible actions. It is arguable that the recent Syria bombing was timed to divert attention away from his political difficulties.

Potential impeachment or other prosecutions will also cloud his judgment.

It is reasonably certain that after the election the House of Representatives will be controlled by the Democrat party and also possible that the Senate will as well. The President will be less able to initiate actions since some of his actions will require approval of both houses of Congress.

We can hope that America witnesses a resurgence of good will and a lessening of the fear and hate which arose from the negatively populist movement which contributed to his electoral victory.

It is time to find common ground and focus on the values which unite us and Americans.

I expect that Americans will look for that commonality in the near future.

But, underneath the political discussions lie some real economic problems. While we have a good economy at the moment, not everyone is seeing the benefits.

There is a continuing concentration of wealth, income and power among a small minority of citizens. If this trend is not reversed, it will create real instability in the political process. Americans at the bottom of the wealth and income hierarchy are suffering with real problems. Should we continue to ignore those problems, the conditions may lead to a revival of the populist trends in America. These same trends today support potentially Fascist regimes in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Venezuela and the Philippines, according to Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State.

One of the common causes of these trends is that the governments incrementally lose touch with their populations. As a result, the populations can become frustrated and support a demagogue who appeals to their frustrations and scapegoats a minority while consolidating his power and installing and/or extending corruption.