Midterm Exams by Geoff Carter « The Pen in Hand Blog

Illustration by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

A big test is coming up for America, a test that could determine the course of our democracy (or lack of it) for generations. The midterms. During the last election, we were gullible enough to be fooled twice (shame on us), and, as a result, we are now witnessing a ruthless and well-coordinated attempt to destroy our democracy. There are forces that want to arrest and jail political enemies and immigrants, muzzle the free press, dismantle social safety nets, and turn the national treasury into their own private piggy bank—and it’s not just Donald Trump. He could not have done this on his own.

No, look to Russel Vought, Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, and the other architects of Project 2025, the blueprint Trump followed as he dismantled the VA and the Department of Education, erased USAID (resulting in an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide), commissioned Elon Musk and his pet DOGE to steal millions of bits of personal information from government files, turned ICE into his own private army, destroyed and defaced our national monuments, and so much more.

Look to Christian Nationalists who have advocated for a more devout, family-oriented, and white America, hoping to mold our society into a monochromatic theocracy. Look to the tech billionaires who have poured money into campaign coffers in exchange for, shall we say, future considerations. Look to the Republican senators and representatives who value their careers and portfolios more than the quality and worth of the people who elected them. Look to Mitch McConnell who stalled a Supreme Court justice nomination to ensure a conservative would be appointed—and then proceeded to pack the court with far-right extremists who overturned Roe -v- Wade, gutted the Voting Rights Act, and gave the president criminal immunity.

The upcoming midterms are not just a measure of approval for the present administration. They are a life jacket. Should Republicans retain control of the House and Senate (although they have done precious little with those institutions), there will be no one to stand in Trump’s way as he continues to ravage and loot our government. This is a test of our common sense, our resolve, and future generations.

Trump—and his marketing machine—fooled us (well maybe not all of us. You know who you are) into thinking he would be a stable leader with the welfare of the American people as his first priority. He did this somehow after instigating a mob that stormed the Capitol Building, the people’s house, in a foiled attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. It was the first attempted coup in American history. And yet, four years afterwards, he somehow got himself reelected president, promising the people affordable housing, food, and an assurance we would not get involved in foreign wars.

Instead, we have stood witness to some of the most outrageous and criminally brazen abuses of power, not only in the U.S., but in the history of the world. Trump has made a fortune with his brand of quid pro quo international negotiations. Instead of using the presidency to make citizens safer, happier, and smarter, he has done nothing but enrich himself and his family to the tune of billions and billions of dollars.

Last year, his Big Beautiful Bill cut Medicaid benefits, SNAP programs, and Head Start so that the one-percenters, the richest people in America, could have their taxes cut even lower. Trump instituted massive tariffs on allies like Mexico, Canada, and many of other European allies.

Trump’s capricious and irrational tariffs have cost consumers and vendors their livelihoods and sometimes their lives. Farmers have seen overseas markets for their products evaporate, resulting in bankruptcies, foreclosures of family farms, and even suicides. After being whacked with exorbitant tariffs, Canada refused to import American wine and bourbon, severely hamstringing those industries. Some merchants won a lawsuit against him, and the courts ruled that his tariffs were illegal. The administration is supposed to pay the tariff money back to American consumers, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Barring another impeachment or an invocation of the 25^th Amendment, we’re stuck with Trump for another two years, but we can mitigate any further damage he might do by electing a Democratic majority in Congress.

Unlike their Republican counterparts, the Democrats have shown a willingness to confront Trump and his draconian policies. They’ve hauled Pam Bondi in front of a congressional committee to confront her about her refusal to release the Epstein files. They grilled Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about Trump’s supplemental funding request tied to the Iran War. They confronted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., about his budget, draconian department cuts, and vaccine schedules.

These hearings, and others involving Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard, Scott Bessent, and other members of his esteemed cabinet, brought to light a level of arrogance, cynicism, and incompetence rarely, if ever, seen in governmental officials at this level. It was embarrassing.

The entire Trump presidency is embarrassing. And dangerous. And criminal. And incompetent. In a sense, we’ve been lucky that our president is so short-sighted and incompetent. Had the Republican billionaire brain trust behind Project 2025 managed to find someone less unqualified than Trump, we may have been in real trouble. He had the Republican majority in the House and the Senate but decided to ignore them and run the country like a dictator. Had he worked with them, who knows what else might have been taken away or destroyed?

We know what we have. The test facing us is whether we have the sense to vote the Republican majority out of Congress. Should that happen, President Trump could very well be impeached or removed from office, but he is not going to sit still and let someone take his shiny new toy—the U.S. Treasury—away from him.

He is already regurgitating the big lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him and has made heavy-handed attempts to intimidate election officials and poll workers across the country. Long-time ally Steve Bannon has insisted the ICE officers be at polling stations to ensure no non-citizens vote (even though records show that only an infinitesimal number of non-citizens attempt to vote). A 2024 review of Georgia voters showed only 20 citizens out of 8.2 million voters were non-citizens. That’s 0.0002%. That’s a non-problem.

Yet Trump has insisted Congress pass the SAVE Act, which would require every voter to produce proof of citizenship documents before voting—either birth certificates or passports. The problem is not everyone has a passport, and not everyone can locate a birth certificate. And if you’re a woman who changed her name after marriage, the birth certificate would not stand as proof of citizenship.

These midterms are a test than no one should have to study for. Anyone who’s witnessed the vast and innumerable crimes, misdemeanors, and cruelties of this administration (never mind the spotty lucidity of our esteemed leader), knows that we have to curtail his power and the only way to do that is to vote, and to vote in numbers that would make any accusations of election fraud implausible and even laughable.

Trump knows if he loses the US Senate and the House of Representatives, he will be impeached and possibly indicted. As he said on January 6, 2026, “You got to win the midterms, because if we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be — I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said in a speech at a House Republican policy retreat. “I’ll get impeached.”

Impeached and worse. Trump knows he and his family will be indicted, tried, and sentenced once he’s out of power.

We cannot fail these midterm exams. The stakes are far too high.