Remember Donald Trump's campaign speeches when he was the Republican presidential candidate? All those promises he made? How his supporters lapped it all up? How loudly they cheered? How madly they waved their placards and signs? How riled up they got?
Remember when he said -- to chants of "lock her up" from his supporters -- that he'd ask the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server saying she "deserved" to be in jail?
Well, it now seems that president-elect Trump feels Clinton's "been through enough" and President Trump will not pursue any investigations into either the server issue or the questions surrounding the Clinton Foundation.
Remember when he said Obamacare was a "disaster," that he was going to repeal it and start over?
Well, within 48 hours of winning the election he was stepping that back. Now he says he wouldn't scrap all of it, that there are parts of it he "likes very much," such as coverage for those with pre-existing medical conditions and allowing parents years of additional coverage for their grown-up children.
How impressed will his disaffected, angry voters be when they see all the promises he made fall by the wayside, one after another, after another?
Remember when he insisted "climate change is a Chinese hoax?" When he promised to remove regulations on coal, oil and gas companies? When he said he intended to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement?
Well, just the other day, when he sat down with reporters from the New York Times, he told them he "has an open mind" about it, that there might be a connection between humans and warming temperatures after all.
Remember when he accused President Barack Obama of being too soft on torturing terrorist suspects? When he suggested their family members should be killed? When he told us "we have to beat the savages?" When he said he believed waterboarding was an effective technique and that he'd bring it back?
Well, Trump's changed his mind on that, too. Turns out that a meeting with his pick for U.S. Defense Chief -- retired Marine Corps General James "Mad Dog" Mattis -- convinced him that it isn't really useful and that "a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers" would work better. To quote the Donald, "I was very impressed by that answer."
But how impressed will his disaffected, angry voters be when they see all the promises he made fall by the wayside, one after another, after another? When they know they've been duped? Taken for a ride? Lied to, to get their vote?
How will they react when reality finally sinks in?
How will they react when reality finally sinks in, when they realize that the tax cuts they were counting on are, instead, going to the wealthy, the elite, the privileged -- and they won't see any benefit at all?
How will they react when they find out that, while there will probably be some sort of wall or fencing on the U.S.-Mexican border, it won't be "as advertised?" That even if Trump and his crackerjack team of business leaders do re-negotiate trade deals, it won't help those who've lost jobs to automation.
How will they react when reality finally sinks in, when they realize the only reason he wanted to become president was to further his own business interests? When they finally recognize the enormity of the conflicts of interest between Donald Trump the president and Donald Trump the head of a business empire, particularly when it begins to affect them?
How will they react when they can no longer bury their heads in the sand, when they can no longer ignore the facts -- that the only pockets being lined are those of president Trump and his family? When there is no denying he lied to get what he wanted -- elected? When they finally see him for the self-aggrandizing, self-absorbed, narcissistic, opportunist he is, always has been and always will be?
Mark my words: Donald Trump may soon find himself somewhere between a rock and a hard place. It could get very ugly.
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