Well, the people have spoken.

And I have no earthly idea what they said as I write this the day before election day.

And despite the polling and the pundits I wouldn’t venture, in print, to predict the outcome.

(Of course I know how I’d like these mid-terms to turn out; I have a modestly good idea how they may turn out; but saying on the day before, how the day after, is going to turn out – is a no-go for me.)

What I will predict, however, is that it isn’t over — and there’s gonna be a lot of shouting. From one guy (and his minions). Who’s terrified about the next two years. And will do and say anything to keep from being called to account for the grift and attacks on democracy he’s mounted.

And just when you thought the emailing or texting for yet another campaign donation is stopping, the only thing stopping is the ask for money for the election; ‘cause what will be starting is an ask for money to pay for court cases defending the peoples’ choices (those are your choices, bunky) made in a free and fair election — the choices Trump and his hoard will try to cancel.

So buckle up, folks, it’s going to get ugly.

And speaking of ugly, what I want to know is when will people say, “Enough! Basta! That’s it! Stop!”

Or to cliché a bit: What straw will finally break the camel’s back; ‘cause the bale of hay we’ve been burdened with by Trump is already bigger than all the straw that’s harvested in Ellensburg, Yakima, and the Columbia Basin.

Do you remember: Tariffs, the Iran war, skyrocketing gas prices, soaring diesel prices, inflation, conviction on 23 felony business-fraud charges, inciting the January 6th insurrection (and pardoning the court-convicted rioters), the invasion of Venezuela, siding with Putin against the Ukraine, the Big Lie, executing guys in boats sans trials or evidence, Epstein, troops in the cities, the E. Jean Carroll conviction for sexual assault, Stormy Daniels, and boxes of classified documents in the bathrooms of Mar-a-Largo?

Or maybe you recall him trying to make Canada the 51st state, or capturing Greenland, or 10 years of bleating “Fake News,” or killing US AID and murdering over 700,000 men, women, and children by stopping their food and medicine, or trying to destroy the Kennedy Center after he couldn’t put his name on it, or actually destroying the East Wing and erecting an absurd ballroom, or botching the Reflecting Pool repair, or trying to destroy a much-used pubic park in DC to build a Trump golf course, or DOGE and Musk slicing the federal workforce by 20% and stealing a ton of proprietary info on you, or his attacks on DEI.

But please, gentle reader, don’t forget about his takeover of the Dept. of Justice and using the Attorney General as his personal lawyer (which he was/still is), or Pete Hegseth, as the Secretary of “War” not Defense, botching the war with Iran and firing scores of top Pentagon generals and admirals ‘cause they are black or women, or R.F. K. Jr. single-handedly destroying the world’s premier health organization and his attack on vaccines and bringing back measles as a child killer, or Trump’s advice to inject bleach to kill covid.

But wait, there’s more: his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, his destruction of green energy and allowing China to get a decade ahead of us developing electric cars, scrapping Clean Air and Clean Water standards and protections, quitting the World Health Organization, withholding FEMA disaster aid from Blue states and cities, allowing dangerous pesticides to stay on the market, rolling back drinking water standards, denying climate change, and love letters to communist North Korea’s Kim Jun Un (as he develops nukes and missiles capable of hitting the US and hacks crypto accounts).

And then there’s: his attack on the Constitution and who controls elections, his fake electors when Biden won (and how he pardoned those convicted of election crimes), reduced funding for PELL grants and student loans, the Hollywood Access Tapes (grab ‘em by the pu***!), the Epstein birthday book and his lewd drawing, the $1 million Gold Card visa scheme, ending funding for PBS and NPR, his attack on the Smithsonian, its chair, and all of American history, neutering the Federal Election Commission (FEC), shutting down the Dept. of Education, lov’n Putin more than our NATO allies, trying to jerrymander the 2026 mid-terms, killing foreign tourism (especially from Canada) and eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

And the list goes on when he: he tells supporters to “cheat like hell,” bans reporters from the White House, cuts veterans benefits, cuts OSHA funding and enforcement, cuts funding to National Parks (to fund the Arch du Trump), attacks the court system (and lies to judges while ignoring their rulings), make pay-to-play a White House thing selling pardons and patronage, trying to kill birthright citizenship, ignoring AI while doting on crypto (and making $2 billion off it), reducing funding for National Institutes of Health, and lying with every word coming out of his mouth.

Now, there’s more, but I’m out of words for this column.

And, I ask again, “Ain’t this enough?”

How much more damage can he do?

Lots.

Which is why I’m praying, on this Monday afternoon, that you voted Dems in, and Trumps out, and we can all say, “Donald; Duck! It’s com’in at ya.”

Slava Ukraini

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.