to offer any comment on.

Anyway, who said I was worried about Trump? The question was a hypothetical about how he would have handled the Ukraine crisis. I actually think Trump's legal problems may catch up to him, that his popularity in the GOP is dropping, and that there is a power struggle going on in that party right now with the far right. Now, of course, sycophants that they are, they would unite around Trump if he's the nominee in 2024. But I think the jury is still out on that.

The reason I think Trump came to power in the first place really doesn't have to do with the broad categories you listed but rather a couple of things that have been occurring over a period of about 40 years or so. The decline in our manufacturing base, the resulting decline in unions, falling income relative to the uber wealthy, are all huge factors. The decline in the white majority has magnified these very real problems and provided a rich environment for scapegoating. The immigrants took our jobs (bullshit, of course, they do a TON of our manual labor particularly in the food supply chain). The liberals are elite, effete intellectuals who don't understand the rest of "us" (perhaps some truth to that....techies tend to be liberals and they make tons of money relative to others). The economic divide is exacerbated by the wealth in cities and suburbs relative to rural America (of course, there's a reason people get educated and LEAVE rural America and that has been going on since the late-1800's). The division of us via social media into tribes and bubbles of misinformation (the inability to discern the truth can't be underestimated as a huge concern). The failure of the education system (the anti-CRT bullshit isn't going to help that, but neither is the massive Department of Education). And, in my opinion, religious fundamentalism and the desire to legislate some sense of morality and order based on that fundamentalism (this happens in uncertain times but is exacerbated by social media nowadays).

All of that has resulted in Trump and populism and the election lie and an attempted insurrection which in my opinion, is still ongoing. I think the jury is still out on whether the US survives it, Trump or no Trump.

Election of 2022? I think the Ds get trashed, which is typical in off year elections. But we are in a really volatile time right now still struggling with a pandemic that 30% of the public denies is eve happening, with inflation (resulting from supply chain disruptions primarily), and with all the attendant factors I listed above plus redistricting and obvious attempts at voter suppression. So really...who knows?