In a way, I'm more excited for the Trump presidency than I am for the next two months of people pretending he's gonna be better/different this time. It's like Washington Wizards fans in the preseason telling you the team is gonna make the playoffs this year. Sure, man. Sure.
The most recent novel by Richard Powers, Bewilderment, is an excellent way to get lost - as is The Maniac prequel, When We Cease to Understand the World. But (by far and away) my best post-election insight has come from watching Einstein and The Bomb, the 2024 biopic in Netflix.
Glad you made the best of your Sunday. Enjoy them while you can. My guess is, the Christian Taliban that wrote the Shiria Law 2025 plan will eventually get around to making Sunday services attendance mandatory for all citizens.
There's an pithy HL Mencken definition of democracy: it's the idea that the common man knows what he wants and deserves to get it good and hard. This is partly why my response to this election debacle isn't anger but a kind of numb hollowness. In essence, a grief reaction. Grief because, similar to mourning a death, this election result has felt to me since about Friday like an inevitable reckoning, not an unjust power grab. Trump is hideous but people voted for him because they're fed the f up with not just inflation but a blatantly rigged financial system run by an American oligarchy (see The Big Short), the overly paternalistic Covid response that kept many children out of schools too long and having been outright lied to about the origins of the virus (see NYT for pretty damning proof), and, not least, with the Dem party's insistence on going too far leftward, where it wins the day on pronouns, defunding the cops, etc but fails to stand up for voters' frustrations not just with inflation but to admitting that things since the 2008 financial crisis have been really hard on non-coastal non-elites. The wind was blowing against a Dem VP incumbent already, but the party needs to stop pretending voters aren't punishing them for pretending HL Mencken's version of democracy is a good one.
This is exactly how I feel as I visit friends in Charleston, not knowing who on the streets or in the shops or in the bars and restaurants I can trust to have a good heart or a sound moral compass.
I’m with you: angry and bewildered by how many in our country fell for his lies, gimmicks, and basically the many depraved “policies” he intends to implement. I am hoping Biden and others can still build some guardrails to keep the damages down a bit. But DT just today said he wants a Senate leader who will “fast track” his appointments….during Congress’ recesses! He cares not one iota for the Constitution, laws, regulations or the consequences of his actions.
Wednesday I cried and grieved. Thursday (my birthday!) I connected with friends and family (thankfully all true blue) and Friday I cured ballots for Jackie Rosen’s Senate race (she has now won!). I’m not planning into the future, taking one day at a time, including long walks in nature. Small steps, conserve energy, we have a long hard road up ahead. Remember the metaphor about putting on your oxygen mask before helping others on the plane plummeting from the sky.
Well said. I too feel an anger that is not me, that comes from the left field, and I don't know how to deal with it. I feel unsettled and wary in crowds since the elections. I want men to wear a badge, a pin, or a t-shirt letting me know if they're for or against women. Today in the parking lot I wanted to wait for the owner of the car that was covered with Harris/Walz and Obama signs so I could cry in their arms.
That is not me. I have survived traumas you wouldn't imagine possible but I have found the one that brought me to my knees, the devolution of our society and the rise of hate and retribution.
I am definitely not ready to carry on calmly with my life. I’m mad as hell too. Yesterday I was in Meijer wearing my homemade shirt that says: TRUMP WILL DESTROY
DEMOCRACY AND
FREEDOM
One woman gave a thumbs up. A young man said” Your shirt’s stupid” I gave him the finger and replied “And you’re a traitor”.
Yeah...you got it, as usual. As I have mentioned before, I am a small-town, part time newspaper reporter. I know for a fact when I go sit with these folks, they are those people. I had a meeting this week...all I could think was yep, you did it. See where that gets you. But when you are hyper-local, national politics rarely rears its ugly head. The drama revolves around whether to let a guy build a fence in his front yard -- I mean, that MAGA dude has a four year old and a trampoline, let him have his fence so his dogs don't run in the road and his kid can bounce to her hearts content behind a six foot wall (setting a terrible precedent, btw). He said to the zoning appeals board, "I want the whole sandbox...the trampoline, the pool, everything." And I suppose that's what the Trump voters wanted too, at the expense of actual democracy. To have the whole sandbox of things, to sit behind a six foot privacy fence and watch their kid jump on the trampoline, with no interference from neighbors or immigrants or foreign powers or woke people who might stir up uneasy feelings. And the promise of a well-paying job to pay for it all.
At least you don’t have a family group chat full of triumphant dummies who are *proud* of how they’ve destroyed the future for their children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews
I returned from brunch today and listened to a Bulwark podcast. One of the third worst persons in the world, John Bolton, was interviewed about the danger of Trump. Here Bolton's smug rear sat informing the interviewer that Trump didn't know the UK was a nuclear country until two years into his term. Yet, Bolton and others, the guardrails, never shared this or express outrage until this past week. Bolton's admissions make me so angry. He spoke dispassionately as though he was talking about the weather. And now there will be no guardrails.
I don't get it.
I thought of the yokels around me at brunch. I know half there were "them." I cringe to think I will spend the next indefinite period of history having to pretend "they're" just fine folks. They aren't. Yet, I have no choice.
The David Letterman clip was actually just the thing today. And your essay was good too—count me in as also not ready for grace right now (either extending or accepting). Thank you.
In a way, I'm more excited for the Trump presidency than I am for the next two months of people pretending he's gonna be better/different this time. It's like Washington Wizards fans in the preseason telling you the team is gonna make the playoffs this year. Sure, man. Sure.
The most recent novel by Richard Powers, Bewilderment, is an excellent way to get lost - as is The Maniac prequel, When We Cease to Understand the World. But (by far and away) my best post-election insight has come from watching Einstein and The Bomb, the 2024 biopic in Netflix.
Let me tell you: I can’t even fall asleep to true crime anymore. Even watching true crime TikTok’s fill me with dread.
The other night I was afraid to go down to the basement to get laundry cause I was scared someone was down there.
I have since changed my media diet back to historical docs, and have been feeling a little better. Hoping for the best.
Glad you made the best of your Sunday. Enjoy them while you can. My guess is, the Christian Taliban that wrote the Shiria Law 2025 plan will eventually get around to making Sunday services attendance mandatory for all citizens.
There's an pithy HL Mencken definition of democracy: it's the idea that the common man knows what he wants and deserves to get it good and hard. This is partly why my response to this election debacle isn't anger but a kind of numb hollowness. In essence, a grief reaction. Grief because, similar to mourning a death, this election result has felt to me since about Friday like an inevitable reckoning, not an unjust power grab. Trump is hideous but people voted for him because they're fed the f up with not just inflation but a blatantly rigged financial system run by an American oligarchy (see The Big Short), the overly paternalistic Covid response that kept many children out of schools too long and having been outright lied to about the origins of the virus (see NYT for pretty damning proof), and, not least, with the Dem party's insistence on going too far leftward, where it wins the day on pronouns, defunding the cops, etc but fails to stand up for voters' frustrations not just with inflation but to admitting that things since the 2008 financial crisis have been really hard on non-coastal non-elites. The wind was blowing against a Dem VP incumbent already, but the party needs to stop pretending voters aren't punishing them for pretending HL Mencken's version of democracy is a good one.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/opinion/republicans-democrats-trump.html says it all. I'm ready for the reckoning that I hope will happen, to both sides.
I always turn to Mencken in reckonings such as these.
This is exactly how I feel as I visit friends in Charleston, not knowing who on the streets or in the shops or in the bars and restaurants I can trust to have a good heart or a sound moral compass.
I’m with you: angry and bewildered by how many in our country fell for his lies, gimmicks, and basically the many depraved “policies” he intends to implement. I am hoping Biden and others can still build some guardrails to keep the damages down a bit. But DT just today said he wants a Senate leader who will “fast track” his appointments….during Congress’ recesses! He cares not one iota for the Constitution, laws, regulations or the consequences of his actions.
Wednesday I cried and grieved. Thursday (my birthday!) I connected with friends and family (thankfully all true blue) and Friday I cured ballots for Jackie Rosen’s Senate race (she has now won!). I’m not planning into the future, taking one day at a time, including long walks in nature. Small steps, conserve energy, we have a long hard road up ahead. Remember the metaphor about putting on your oxygen mask before helping others on the plane plummeting from the sky.
Well said. I too feel an anger that is not me, that comes from the left field, and I don't know how to deal with it. I feel unsettled and wary in crowds since the elections. I want men to wear a badge, a pin, or a t-shirt letting me know if they're for or against women. Today in the parking lot I wanted to wait for the owner of the car that was covered with Harris/Walz and Obama signs so I could cry in their arms.
That is not me. I have survived traumas you wouldn't imagine possible but I have found the one that brought me to my knees, the devolution of our society and the rise of hate and retribution.
I am definitely not ready to carry on calmly with my life. I’m mad as hell too. Yesterday I was in Meijer wearing my homemade shirt that says: TRUMP WILL DESTROY
DEMOCRACY AND
FREEDOM
One woman gave a thumbs up. A young man said” Your shirt’s stupid” I gave him the finger and replied “And you’re a traitor”.
I’m not going to be mealymouthed.
Yeah...you got it, as usual. As I have mentioned before, I am a small-town, part time newspaper reporter. I know for a fact when I go sit with these folks, they are those people. I had a meeting this week...all I could think was yep, you did it. See where that gets you. But when you are hyper-local, national politics rarely rears its ugly head. The drama revolves around whether to let a guy build a fence in his front yard -- I mean, that MAGA dude has a four year old and a trampoline, let him have his fence so his dogs don't run in the road and his kid can bounce to her hearts content behind a six foot wall (setting a terrible precedent, btw). He said to the zoning appeals board, "I want the whole sandbox...the trampoline, the pool, everything." And I suppose that's what the Trump voters wanted too, at the expense of actual democracy. To have the whole sandbox of things, to sit behind a six foot privacy fence and watch their kid jump on the trampoline, with no interference from neighbors or immigrants or foreign powers or woke people who might stir up uneasy feelings. And the promise of a well-paying job to pay for it all.
Michael , Your a great writer, listen do you ever listen to right wing humorists like Greg Gutfield or would that be a act of Sedition
At least you don’t have a family group chat full of triumphant dummies who are *proud* of how they’ve destroyed the future for their children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews
Yup or coworkers who gloat all day
But apparently too stupid to realize what they’ve done
I returned from brunch today and listened to a Bulwark podcast. One of the third worst persons in the world, John Bolton, was interviewed about the danger of Trump. Here Bolton's smug rear sat informing the interviewer that Trump didn't know the UK was a nuclear country until two years into his term. Yet, Bolton and others, the guardrails, never shared this or express outrage until this past week. Bolton's admissions make me so angry. He spoke dispassionately as though he was talking about the weather. And now there will be no guardrails.
I don't get it.
I thought of the yokels around me at brunch. I know half there were "them." I cringe to think I will spend the next indefinite period of history having to pretend "they're" just fine folks. They aren't. Yet, I have no choice.
Heavy sigh.
I really love Have I Got News For You. I look forward to it every week. We’ll need it now more than ever.
Isn't it odd that the non Christians are more like Christ?
The David Letterman clip was actually just the thing today. And your essay was good too—count me in as also not ready for grace right now (either extending or accepting). Thank you.