Unless you entertain the idea that the election was hacked in some way, a majority of Americans willingly voted last Tuesday for someone who to an objective person has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Having grown up being taught that Americans were an exceptional people- all that “land of the free home of the brave” shit it’s difficult to understand what went wrong.
Yes, I know, America’s hands have been bloody for over five-hundred years. Our crimes against humanity are numerous but there was always some tangible attempt to change our ways, to try and make the words in the Constitution actually have some meaning. That has now changed and I fear any hope of redemption in my remaining years is impossible. Shit, since Wednesday morning the thought has crossed my mind several times that this country might not be worth saving.
This national failure has many fathers, so trying to pin the blame on one person or event is a futile endeavor. My personal historical pivot point that most likely damned this country was back in the 90s when whatever person, group, or country saved Trump from total bankruptcy.
But Trump is just the result of ignorance, long held fears, unrepentant prejudice and a type of privileged selfishness that is exclusive to the American character. All those factors have led to the disaster that has already begun but will get exponentially worse after Trump takes office in January.
A few brave souls have already begun to crawl out of the rubble that was Election Night and begin the process of figuring out what went wrong. As of today all I’m hearing is a lot of finger pointing with the different groups under the Democratic Party banner blaming each other.
Yes, I agree in general that my fellow Democrats failed on several levels. President Biden, a standup guy with decades of honorable service should have realized he was too old. I personally feel Democrats have since Clinton been fighting a losing battle on getting their message heard by people other than college educated types. And along with that Democrats, rightly or wrongly, have alienated their traditional base by trying to be everything to everyone. Do not ask me how they begin to thread that needle without pissing off another member of the coalition.
If Democrats have one fatal flaw is that the party is often held hostage by some group who threatens to stay home, or vote Republican if their demands aren’t met fast enough. Back during Obama’s first term, he wasn’t in office for six months when the environmentalists, Hispanics, and anti-war crowd were upset that he hadn’t addressed their issues enough.
I remember yelling at the television screaming at whatever self-righteous talking head was on MSNBC whining that his and her group felt betrayed. I mean the man was trying to clean up the financial clusterfuck that began under W. Bush.
But all that is ancient history now. In the present we have Trump who numerous times over the course of the campaign promised to unleash the military on peaceful protesters. Execute Liz Cheney and General Mark Milliey along with many other threats that I’m largely numb to the idea of the United States becoming an authoritarian dictatorship. Oh yes, my favorite and most chilling threat is Trump talking about the “enemy within.” A blanket term that given his apparent beliefs covers anyone who disagrees with whatever he says at that given moment.
How do we navigate this mess? I haven’t a clue but the one thing I’m sure of is that the country is fucked. Because Trump has tasted power and will have no one reigning in his worst impulses after January, it's time to prepare for the worst.
I honestly do not see a way out of this mess without the blood of Americans being spilled.
See you in the enemy within reeducation/interment camps.
