I've been double-posting feverishly leading up to the election, which I really thought would go the other way, albeit narrowly. Now, I feel like, um, half-posting. Not posting?!
It hurts to have felt so much optimism this time (as opposed to 2016) rooted in knowing it COULD go the other way, but believing rationally it would not. In 2016, I just could not imagine Trump actually winning — that was a different let-down.
The polls were adjusted to account for Trump's mystique, and yet he still outperformed them. I will never comprehend why anyone thinks he is admirable, a bad-ass or even tolerable, and seeing a roaring economy, I can't make sense of people's apparent contempt for the successes of the Biden/Harris years.
I think there is almost nothing Harris could have done to avoid this. Run away from Biden? Yeah, right. The meager Dem votes she got would have evaporated, and nobody can convince me any Republican voters would have been impressed.
I don't fault her. I don't want to hear any BS like we heard with Hillary (who supposedly would have won had she visited Michigan more, etc.). This was baked in and — hindsight 20/20 — was always going to happen, and Harris, in spite of working like hell, was unwittingly the sacrificial lamb.
I'm not sure what comes next, other than a lot of crowing from a lot of very bad people, and — of course — outrageous changes and acts of vengeance by an all-but-dictator who will have a robust Senate and a bare House majority. He will do and get away with a lot of things, even broadly unpopular things, because there will be no checks. It's not like we can count on any Republicans in the Senate to do the right thing.
It's demoralizing to the core in a colder way that 2016. That was pure shock and felt like a fluke, but this feels malicious and intentional. Women don't care about abortion, Latinos don't care about deportation, nobody but Black people cares about civil rights or (don't say it too loudly) racism (NOTHING IS RACIST!) and disinformation is now reality: Putin isn't so bad, Ukraine (and whichever other countries come next in Europe) should give up, RIP Gaza, gay marriage is going to end, just drive out of state for an abortion (but don't get caught), porn is on the chopping block (you'll see) and contraception and the freedom to marry people of another race. All will end up going to the states, over time.
As much as I love celebrity culture and have fun with it, it feels like a huge portion of America is just proudly dumb and is deeply swayed by it. I was thinking about how in the hell Obama won — twice! — recently, and in spite of his intellectual heft and fine qualities, that, too, was celebrity at work, as McCain carped. I think the only reason Biden won was COVID, a fluke, and that was a very close race that wasn't supposed to be.
So going forward, it's going to be a daily battle, and Democrats will be in the wilderness. But we'll probably come back with Mark Cuban as our nominee. It's bonkers, but I just think social media — which most of us love as well as hate, and after all, what do you gain by boycotting it?— has won out over all.
P.S. And yes, as the post says, my rickety blog is 19. Today. Yay.
I'd appreciate getting some rare comments: How do you feel? How are you coping? (Assuming you're not happy.) What's next?
