I’m a natural born cynic, so I have to at least acknowledge the clouds that surround the silver lining that everyone else seems to be focused on. So while a lot of Republicans seem to be under the impression that things are going to go swimmingly over the next few years and the party is in a great position, I must look at the bigger picture. The Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, which is obviously better than a lot of other options, but the Republicans came two elections shy of losing control of the Senate.

The Republicans went from a 54 to 44 Senator advantage to a 51 to 46 advantage, retaining control of the Senate by their fingertips, which means they need every Republican vote, which invites an absolute mess in compromises and backroom dealing. Even the House of Representatives lost 6 seats, going from 246 majority to a 239 majority. This doesn’t change the game as much as many other obviously much worse possibilities, but it’s still a weakening of the Republican position.

This was the cost of Donald Trump deciding to run for office, just so he could win only after alienating millions of Republican voters then immediately backtrack on practically every campaign promise months before he even gets sworn in. His success will depend on keeping corporate interests happy, with his tax cut program, subsidies, and brute force protectionism, while also keeping working class whites happy, by coming through on his campaign promises to bring back American manufacturing jobs that have all but vanished since the 1970’s.

If he fails to solve illegal immigration, fails to repeal ObamaCare, fails to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and fails to restore the American economy in 4 years, he’s very likely going to lose reelection in 2020 and set the stage for the gutting of what remains of the Republican Party. That’s a tall order, even with the backing of a Republican Congress. He’s already put fixing the deficit and doing anything about the run away US debt on the back burner, betting the nation’s future on his economic vision.

Cutting corporate tax rates is the correct solution to a big part of the equation, but he’s already rolled back on his opposition to increasing the minimum wage, and his promises to working class whites that defected from the Democratic Party is going to hinge on increasing wages and salaries, which are the main reason American manufacturing has been leaving the United States in the first place. It still costs twenty times as much to manufacture anything in the United States, and protectionist tariffs fly in the face of the last 30 years of Republican policy.

American voters have put a gun to the head of America’s future in an ultimate game of Russian Roulette. There’s no turning back now. America rises or falls on the good behavior and business foresight of a man who tried (and failed) to sell $1000.00 meat beside electric nose hair clippers. God help us.

Liberty is For The Win!