So my gut was wrong [0], and the Orange Menace won. It seems the
impact of Roe v. Wade was not enough to tip the scales in the swing
states. I think Harris actively lost the election by, as I put it in
that post, being a "more of the same" candidate. The Democratic
establishment just can't seem to realize that people want meaningful
change. It was a repeat of 2016 - but worse, as it appears Harris
lost the popular vote as well.

It's hard to say what will happen during a second Trump term - from
what we saw the last time he was in office, Trump does whatever is
best for himself at any given moment. Smart people that interact
with him try to take advantage of this, which was pretty obvious
when watching his dealings with world leaders and advisers during
the last go-around. But it's still a crap-shoot, and now you can add
advisers and a VP that won't temper his worst impulses. Nor will the
courts hamper him, with the US Supreme Court's ruling last term on
presidential power.

The senate has flipped, which means that the Supreme Court is lost
for a generation at least, and there will be lots more socially
regressive and corporate-friendly rulings from them. While we no
longer live in the States, my wife and I have family there, so we're
scared for what may come out of a second Trump term, even long after
he's gone.

What does this mean for Canada? I guess it depends on what happens
to the US economy, since Canada generally follows suit. If Trump
enacts lots of tariffs, that could be bad for Canada, given the
amount of trade between the two countries. But really I have no
idea, and neither does Trump. He and I are just along for the ride.

[0]: gopher://republic.circumlunar.space/0/~slugmax/phlog/2024-11-04-commentary-2024-us-presidential-election