You thought the last 2 1/2 years were the worst? Dream on.

Forewarned is forearmed   14th century Latin proverb

So, you thought that with the Epstein moon once again circling Alpha Trumpori 1, we had finally reached the depths of the depravity of the Trump administration? Well, as Bachman-Turner-Overdrive used to warble, “B-b-b-baby, you just ain’t seen n-n-n-nuttin’ yet.”

Although we are more than halfway through the first, and please Dios, only Trump term, the worst is yet to come. There are several reason why I say this, and while none of them are reassuring, they are all logical, and fit in with facts as we already know them.

For starters, Trump is nothing if not predictable. Since the day he slowly farted his way through Gucci silk down that golden escalator in Trump Tower, to the adoring applause of paid “supporters, Trump’s pitch has been carefully crafted to be music only to the ears of the misbegotten souls who find his dreck palatable. He speaks to a forgotten, or unattended group of the downtrodden, chock-a-block replete with grievance, fear, and hatred.

This is why Trump held so many rallies during the campaign, and holds so many now. He is constantly on the lookout for new, more sensational crimes and grievances to lay before his supporters. He uses these rallies not only because his insecurity requires constant ego gratification, but also as a sounding board for something new to rile up his llama brained followers. If he trots something out at a rally, and it stirs up the base, he’ll use it again and again. If it falls flat, he’ll try another one the next time. His followers tend to have the attention span of newborn puppies, so constant stimulation and distraction are required.

Since his miraculous electoral college victory, Trump has stunned political historians, analysts, and talking heads for being the first President in history who, upon winning, did not pivot to the middle to increase his base to better his chances for reelection. Instead, Trump has relentlessly pivoted even further in the direction of his howling mob, and away from the mainstream. The problem with a pack of rabid dogs is that they require a steady supply of fresh meat. The impending ICE raids are just the opening salvo of a descending stairway of cruelty, especially to “the others.”

Second. Trump is unchained. This occurred two ways. First, say what you want about political carp like Reince Priebus, John Kelly, Rex Tillerson, and the rest. Whatever their sins, they were a restraining influence on Trump’s worst excesses. But by a combination of attrition, as well as Machiavellian back stabbing, all of those restraining influences have been removed,replaced by toadying sycophants whose Tantric chant is “Let Trump be Trump,” turning him over to the tender mercies of racist Rasputin’s like Stephen Miller. Trump is now free to indulge his most base whims.

Last November completed the transformation. In the 2018 midterms, the GOP lost the House, but that was actually a boon for Trump. Trump didn’t lose many Trumpaholics in safe red districts. What Trump lost were more traditional conservatives like Char;ie Dent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Carlos Curbelo, House members who didn’t even hold steerage class tickets on the SS Trumptanic. But what they did represent were a block of about 30-40 more traditional Republicans, who properly outraged, could raise their voices in concert with the Democrats, putting both House as well as traditional conservative pressure on Trump and the GOP Senate to quit pushing the envelope. There is no longer any legislative resistance possible to The $1 Store Caligula. And as long as persona Baal, Mitch McConnell rules the Senate by fiat, there is little a Democratic House can do to constrain him.

Third, and most dangerously, Trump is literally fighting for his life. The salad days are over, and 2020 is rapidly approaching. Politically speaking, Rex Tillerson is right, Trump is a fucking moron. Trump thinks that simply because he pulled off the perfect scam once, in a perfect storm year, he can do it again simply by doing more of the same. His ego and narcissism won’t allow him to consider that some of the suckers he conned the first time may be on to the fact that he has done nothing but fuck them over ever since. or that his opponents won’t learn from their previous mistakes, and retool their strategy. His strategy is simply to provide more opulent and degenerate bread-and-circuses for his followers.

Mike Pence codified this yesterday, when he allowed media cameras to accompany him on his 90 second tour of the Texas CBP cattle pen. Both Pence and his numbnuts puppet master realized that the images would bring furious outrage, but it was a trade off that they were willing to make to ensure the satisfaction of their base as to what a hardass Trump is being with the “infestation” they rant and rave about. Make no mistake, that debacle yesterday was carefully crafted and staged. CBP officials have been forbidding even sitting congressmen and women from bringing cameras or cell phones into these facilities to record the conditions. If those cameras were allowed entry yesterday, it was solely because Trump wanted them there, as propaganda for his base.

It will only get worse, because Trump’s life and liberty are on the line. If he loses in 2020, some Democratic contenders have already stated that they will instruct their new Attorney General to pursue all legitimate charges against Trump. If Trump can win reelection, most of those charges will stale date due to the statute of limitations, as will most state charges, unless New York chooses to indict him and hold the indictments in abeyance until his second term runs out.

Yesterday was only a sample, and if tomorrows ICE roundups take place as scheduled, it’s just a natural progression. I wouldn’t be surprised f there are a few “friendly” cameras allowed to go out on some of those raids tomorrow, to show off to his guys at the bar, like a particularly attractive date. Trump has plighted his troth to his racist base, and he will only have to get worse to satisfy them, and keep them juiced up for 2020. His hope is twofold, to scrape up every last 2016 vote that he can, especially in PA, WI, and MI, and to exhaust the rest of us to the point that we start to look at him as the ultimate Borg, and that “resistance is futile.” Pray that we don’t let that happen.