The Trumpening

I’m writing this on the morning of the second day of the Republican National Convention. Rudy Guilani has already stoked fear. Patricia Smith has already demonized Hillary Clinton. Melania Trump has already appeared, reading from a plagiarized Michelle Obama speech. Donald Trump has even briefly surfaced, preening to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”

There are those who didn’t believe this moment would actually arrive. Delegates would revolt. GOP leaders would discover a backbone. Trump himself would reject the nomination.

“It will never happen,” they said, trying to reassure themselves about a racist, sexist, xenophobic narcissist.

Oh, it’s happening. Save a miraculous last-minute ditch, Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president.

So, now what? This week’s feature story “The United States of Trump” (see here) examines what life could be like if Trump is elected.

It started out as something of a joke—ha ha, what if?—but good old-fashioned reporting quickly sobered us up.

Foreign policy and guns. Race and immigration. Abortion, healthcare and LGBTQ rights. Here, SN&R writers take Trump’s statements and report how they could play out if blowhard bombast becomes policy.

Turns out it’s not funny at all. It’s downright frightening. And it’s a reminder to stop looking for that last-minute miracle.

Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, a staunch Bernie supporter or a Jill Stein convert, now is not the time to give into Trump’s brand of fear.

Doing so could prove to be a brutal blow—not just to democracy, but to humanity as a whole.