About U.S. presidential election consequences

What resonates across the United States of America and Europe now, bringing a rightward swing and authoritarian governments to the ascendancy, is immigration. As used against the Other, a technique Jews are unfortunately very familiar with, the issue of immigration was employed very successfully by Trump to help him win the U.S. election. That is, if he really did win and voting counts are to be believed – while there are some tentative squeaks about a recount effort from Harris’ campaign, they come off sounding like just being in denial, because nothing will be stopping him from taking office.

Going forward, the biggest driver of immigration is going to be climate change. This process, a feedback loop, is going to intensify rather than diminish, especially with dictatorial governments that deny climate change while expecting to stop migrations of people.

Wars, which increase migration, have started because of climate change. We’ve seen this over the last decade. In Syria, drought brought farmers to the cities, a precipitating factor in a civil war that sent millions into Europe. Now, apparently in reaction to those immigrants, recent elections in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries in Europe are seeing gains by right-wing parties that were unheard of for years.

Wars also cause more pollution which causes more climate change which causes more migration…

Drought is a driver of migration from Central America. In 2019, when members of our Jewish community stepped forward to respond and assist busloads of migrants who were being bussed into New Mexico towns and cities, I wrote “Asylum Seekers Cared for by Jewish Volunteers in Albuquerque: A humanitarian crisis driven by climate change.” (New Mexico Jewish Link, Summer 2019). This week, an Associated Press piece circulates, “Extreme weather drives migration.”

Now we are hearing Trump’s cabinet picks: For the Environmental Protection Agency it’s Lee Zeldin, who is, according to the NY Times, “expected to gut climate regulations.” For Homeland Security, he’s picked South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who wrote that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog because he wasn’t picking up training cues fast enough, together with Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff (who last time around put families in cages and tore children away from their parents, and whose Jewish relatives have publicly repudiated him), and Tom Homan, former head of ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to be “border czar.”

His choice for Ambassador to Israel? Mike Huckabee, an evangelical who welcomes settlements and advocates a hard line against Iran, and who was selected even before Trump announced his pick for Ambassador to the U.N., Elise Stefanik. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Elon Musk, richest person in the world, and Vivek Ramaswamy to slash government spending.

Next? Anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services; Matt Gaetz, under investigation for sex-traffiking, for Attorney General; Tulsi Gabbard, considered a Putin asset by some Democrats, for Director of National Intelligence; and TV presenter Pete Hegseth, who has white nationalist tattoos, for Secretary of Defense.

Jared Kushner is standing behind the curtains, with his 2 billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia perceived as a bit of a conflict of interest. As Reuters (10/4/24) reported, “Kushner, 43, has a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, which congressional investigators say has invested $2 billion in his private equity fund, Affinity Partners, which Kushner set up after leaving the White House.”

Some may celebrate these choices.

I see a ghostly conductor silently waving a wand, and hear a deafening march to the beat of an inexorable death wish. Skeletons on parade, wildly shaking their bones. I feel the dark pull of an undertow.

What to do? I’m afraid we will see the rule of law recede, for a time, as Trump’s  ‘executive orders’ will be issued faster than any courts can respond. He’s actually intimated that there won’t even be another election.

How long will it take for us to find our footing again as a country? We will. We must. We will find our voices. But it will not be easy.

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Diane Joy Schmidt is publisher and editor of the state-wide, independent, online New Mexico Jewish Journal.