Some Thoughts Concerning the Next Four Years
*Henry Flores has sworn that he will not write or pronounce Donald Trump’s name in public. So in his columns he’ll refer to the president-elect as ESN, el señor naranja. VL
By Henry Flores, NewsTaco (4 minute read) 
I’ve been trying to place the recent General Election results into some sane context but am having a very difficult time. Friends have shown everything from anger, disbelief, grief, fear, embarrassment, just about any negative emotional response possible concerning the fact that our country will sit one of the most inept, horrible administrations in our history come January 20th. At least, thousands of women will march on Washington D.C. to show their displeasure at what they fear will be coming on that same day. I’m in such a state that I’m avoiding all news except for my local sports page and the crossword puzzle that comes with it. I don’t even want to hear about who ESN is nominating for various cabinet offices. It just doesn’t make any difference. Here is what I fear.
[pullquote]I’m worried about what my wallet will contain in the near and far future. I don’t trust deal makers.[/pullquote]The Economy
Like most voters I’m concerned with the economic wellbeing of the economy. What this means is I’m worried about what my wallet will contain in the near and far future. I don’t trust deal makers. ESN is like a “used car dealer.” Developers are speculators and invest in what others say is a “hot thing.” They are gamblers and I don’t like to think of my money being decided upon by a bunch of guys who got us into the last recession. Those guys were gamblers just like ESN and now they have almost total control of what our economy will look like over the next four years. Our only hope is that Janet Yellen, the Fed Chair, can hold off the wolves at the gate. So I’m afraid of my salary, retirement, Medicare, home value, credit card debt, the whole package of what constitutes my finances.
Those who voted for ESN hoping that he will bring jobs back to the United States are just not knowledgeable about why those jobs left in the first place. They should have not gotten complacent thinking that they were safe working for a corporation their entire lives. Corporations are not welfare programs and will look out for the interests of their investors, not their workers. So, they will go where labor and technology is cheaper and that is not in the Midwestern part of this country! Ha, good luck on finding work over the next four years!
[pullquote]I fear that ICE will deport anyone they feel like deporting just to make their quotas.[/pullquote]Immigration
Like most Latinos I’m concerned with what will happen to the 6 – 11 million undocumented immigrants. Yeah, la migra has no idea how many people are inside the United States without appropriate documentation. The eleven million number is years old and based on some obscure apprehension data. I asked them once and they admitted to all of this. They also admitted that if someone is apprehended more than once they are counted more than once. So, some vato who has been caught five times is actually counted as five undocumented persons, ha, ha. ¡Que loco! Still, I’m afraid for them and any other Latino citizen who happens to be around a neighborhood roundup because I see nothing but “jack booted” ICE agents raiding communities, rounding up anyone looking like an undocumented person and deporting them to places unknown. I agree that the base criminals need deporting but I fear that ICE will deport anyone they feel like deporting just to make their quotas.
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Health Care
I can see attempts to abolish the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. I don’t think this will happen because there are just too many folks already enrolled and insurance companies and doctors don’t like to be inconvenienced. Still, there will be some neanderthals who will try and get rid of it. The amusing thing is that even if they succeed they will put something in place that looks like it just to say they “fixed” the existing problems, problems that don’t exist.
Voting Rights
Bye bye.
Gender Protections
Bye bye.
Environmental Protections
Adios Planet Earth!
Foreign Policy
Hello gods of war. Good luck young folks, men and women, because you will have to defend old, white guy ideas, ideas that were out of date in the 1950s, in far off lands. You will find yourselves sitting in holes in the ground wondering why you are there and what you are fighting for like previous generations of young folks.
I guess this is and much more is why I don’t watch the news anymore and have a difficult time sleeping these days.
Henry Flores, PhD, is the Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University. He is the author of Latinos and the Voting Rights Act: The Search for Racial Purpose. Click on the image below for more information.
