OPINION: You thought his first term was bad? The next one will be worse

The election is over and the American people have spoken: Donald Trump will be our next president. Top officials from his last term in office warned us, emphatically, that he is not fit to serve; we elected him anyway.

Fortunately, his opponent isn’t howling about a “stolen” election, so the transition of power will be peaceful. No inciting a mob. No storming the Capitol. No battling with police officers.

Refreshing, isn’t it?

Now that he’s reached the top of the greasy pole, the president-elect needs to start acting presidential. The torrent of lies that spewed from his mouth during the campaign has to stop because we, the people, deserve a leader who tells the truth. That might happen but, given his predilection for prevarication, it’s a dim hope.

Remember all those problems he pledged to fix on “Day 1?” High prices, low wages and ugly wars in Ukraine and Gaza? He promised to solve them, but will prices for bread, milk and eggs really go down? Will he end those wars on satisfactory terms?

Let’s keep an eye on these things. Let’s see if our next president keeps his word.

The more likely scenario is that Trump will spend most of his time playing golf and congratulating himself in the mirror. While he’s busy doing that, darker, more-calculating forces will be pushing an extremist agenda in his name.

There’s a bumpy road ahead if you’re not straight, white, American-born and Christian. It will be even rougher for women of child-bearing age because the Religious Right wants to eliminate access to contraception. Don’t believe me? Remember, 195 House Republicans voted against the 2022 Right to Contraception Act. Congress is filled with Trump toadies, and they’re coming for your birth control.

Environmental regulations to protect clean air and clean water? Bah! Americans don’t need environmental regulations, especially if they make life difficult for polluters who want to boost profits by cutting expenses. Who will lead the Environmental Protection Agency for the next four years? Will it be the CEO of a coal company? Or the chairman of a chemical corporation?

Don’t laugh, because even worse appointments are coming.

America’s favorite brain-worm victim, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is the frontrunner to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. With him in charge of America’s health policy, we can do away with vaccine requirements. Let’s bring back smallpox! Let’s make polio great again! Let’s resurrect deadly diseases that have been all but eradicated!

Remember Herschel Walker? He was a Heisman trophy winner as a running back for the University of Georgia and played 12 seasons in the NFL. Two days before the election, Trump announced he will put Walker in charge of America’s missile defense shield. (No, I am not making this up.)

Walker was a terrific football player, but is he the best choice to oversee America’s missile defense system? The answer is that we elected a clown, so we should expect a circus. Trump always hires the best people, no matter how undeserving they are.

Speaking of undeserving, the president-elect has pledged to issue “Get out of Jail” cards to all of the Jan. 6 rioters, er, “patriots.” Many of these prisoners fought with police that day, injuring around 140 officers and prompting several to kill themselves shortly afterward. In his own twisted way, Trump will “Back the Blue” by pardoning these imprisoned rioters.

On second thought, maybe he’ll sell them pardons.

With more than $500 million in legal judgments against him, our next president is in desperate need of other people’s money. In addition to golden sneakers and special-edition Bibles, he can start hawking pardons, rides on Air Force One, and mining rights for the mineral estate beneath America’s public lands.

Thoughtful voters (i.e. those capable of anticipating consequences) failed to lock Trump out of the White House in last week’s election. Yes, the Harris-Walz campaign misread the mood of working-class America, but the Democratic ticket couldn’t compete against a tornado of GOP disinformation.

History is not a study of the past; rather, it is an explanation of the present. We have seen Donald Trump in the White House before, and we know what we are getting: Security breaches, diplomatic disasters and a vindictive obsession with those whom he perceives as enemies. He is as capricious as a box of frogs.

Our next president will push this country to the breaking point. This time around, he may actually break it.

Brock has been a Daily News columnist for more than 22 years. He has lived on the Palouse even longer.