Not Great, Bob!

 “This campaign was run on the explicit promise to inflict maximal suffering on a lot of disfavored and marginalized people. I trust them to keep that promise. Try to keep your heart soft because that will be the work. Take care of yourself because you will do that work again.”  -- Dahlia Lithwick

He will overplay his hand as his rapid cognitive decline causes him to be even more erratic. His disorganized thinking might slow down his authoritarian impulses. Resistance will grow. If the Democrats can take the House that would be huge and thwart much of his agenda. Governors in Blue States and local governments will be critical too. Midterms are only two years away.

In the meantime, the federal cases against him will go away and I’m not sure if the Georgia case still has legs (but DA Fani Willis was re-elected). That means his incitement of a violent insurrection and his stealing and likely distribution of highly classified information will go untried and unpunished. Hopefully the fruits of the special counsel’s investigations will see the light of day.

Because we lost the Senate, more MAGA judges will be appointed throughout the country unless Senate Democrats can put salt in the gears and slow things down — which they aren’t good at — and we may see Thomas and Alito retire and be replaced by younger extremists. No way to sugarcoat that or the demise of civil service or the dangers to public health and women’s health. Or what may happen internationally, to name just a few areas of grave concern.

I’m disoriented and nauseated and sad and angry. I want to blame most of all Merrick Garland for his slothful approach to holding Trump accountable, as well as Senate Dems for failing to use their power as the majority party to hold hearings in order to highlight Trump’s corruption, from Egyptian bribes to Covid-related malfeasance. And I’m incensed at the mainstream press for failing to give Biden credit for how he resurrected the economy (Biden’s inability to convey this didn’t help) and for normalizing for so long Trump’s lawlessness, misogyny and racism — not to mention his wholesale inability to form a coherent thought or discuss policy with even a modicum of sense.

The enormous influence of our oligarchs, especially Elon Musk, in bolstering Trump’s campaign shouldn’t be underestimated. And the ratfucking and the bomb threats from Russia (especially in light of Trump’s and Musk’s Putin connections) shouldn’t be ignored.

Kamala Harris ran an inspired campaign given the burden of incumbency and how quickly she had to pivot when it became clear Biden was compromised. I wonder if the focus on swaying old school Republicans was the right approach but what do I know. I do know that we shouldn’t underestimate the reluctance of many American voters to elect a woman — not to mention a woman of color. Indeed I can’t get my head around the fact that a majority of the American people who bothered to vote chose to ignore — or embrace — the myriad of cruel, ignorant, vengeful, racist, and misogynist qualities of this malignant narcissistic fascist. But I need to remind myself that they don't represent all of us -- not by a long shot.

I want to conclude by talking reassuringly about hope, love, and community, and about how we cannot allow ourselves to become demoralized and complacent  -- because that's how they win. But I can’t quite find the words yet. Maybe tomorrow.