Of course I want Trump to fail

At this point in the cycle, with the inauguration less than three weeks ahead, the economy steadily ticking off better-than-expected numbers, and the media continually debasing itself to show its allegiance, Donald Trump might be expected to be exultant. After all, Trump has claimed every upswing in the stock markets as his own since ... ever. Plenty of Democratic politicians are already waving their arms to signal capitulation. Trump should be putting off such high levels of smarm that it can be measured by satellites.

Instead, Trump has just declared that the U.S. is a "disaster" and the "laughing stock of the world" while blaming the New Orleans terror attack on President Joe Biden's immigration policies. He hasn't come out of Orange Hulk rage mode — and he's not going to.

Trump is planning an unprecedented "victory rally" at the Capital One Arena the day before he puts his hand on one of his own autographed bibles. Forget the idea of a public celebration of the peaceful transfer of power graced by music and calls to those "better angels." Trump is ready for American Carnage 2.0.

Maybe Trump sees his rally as one more chance to tell the American people about his friend Hannibal Lecter and the threat of electric sharks before he gets down to enacting the apocalypse the following day. But it's likely this is going to be more like the Snyder Cut: all dark, all the time.

The odds that Trump will spend a significant amount of his time at his rally explaining how America is just hours away from breaking down the doors on millions of homes and hauling away family, friends, and neighbors is so near 100% that not even Trump-loving online markets would take the bet. But don't worry that Trump is going to leave children crying as their parents are taken away. He'll get the children, too.

Trump is wrong. What he's proposing is contrary to common decency, human rights, American law, and the Constitution. His proposed internment camps and deportation scheme is a crime against humanity. If he is successful, it will be a black mark on the soul of this nation that will never be expunged and a fundamental betrayal of what America has represented – sometimes wonderfully, often poorly, and never without flaws – for over 200 years.

I want him to fail.

I want Trump to fail utterly and completely. I want the whole scheme to unravel, for the whole thing to be seen as an ugly boondoggle meant to channel billions from the public good to the private prison system, and for Americans to rise against this wanton display of cruelty and inhumanity.

I do not seek compromise. I do not propose an agreement. I stand in opposition and I don't mean to take a single step back.

Fail, Trump, fail.

While he's at it, I want him to fail in his efforts to make the tax system even more lop-sided in favor of billionaires and corporations. I want him to fail in giving away millions of acres of public lands to fossil fuel companies. I want him to fail in his efforts to lionize the people who stormed our Capitol in an attempted coup. I want him to fail in his efforts to destroy effective regulation and replace it with a system that streamlines cronyism. I want him to fail in his efforts to create a system of tariffs that will trigger a global trade war.

And, somewhere near the very top of the list, I want Trump to fail in his efforts to betray the Ukrainian people, undermine NATO, and present Vladimir Putin with a reward for an illegal, unprovoked invasion.

I can not think of one Trump proposal that deserves anything less than derision and active opposition.

I want Trump to fail so badly that for all future generations the termed "failed presidency" will immediately call to mind Trump and no one else. I do not want him to enjoy one moment of success. I want "Trump" to become such a synonym for failure that players of Bridge have to come up with another term to signify a winning suit.

Of course, I want Trump to fail. How could I want anything else? Compromise with evil isn't a lesser evil. It's worse. Trump isn't going to talk about compromise or working with Democrats, as some formerly sane Democratic leaders seem to suggest. He's just going to do bad things.

And for Democrats who seek compromise with Trump — I hope you fail, as well. I'll certainly do everything I can to see that you do.