How can I think about anything at all other than the election? And the consequences of that election. And the potential outcomes. And my predicted outcome, which is that the tangerine tyrant will continue in office while the ostensible opposition party rages ineffectively, while the rest of America descends into (even more) violence. That’s all I’ve been imagining for months, going back to last year when the election season kicked off. The Democratic Party leadership seems, and continues to seem to me, to be completely unable or unwilling to challenge the GOP, and therefore the GOP is going to do whatever they like, including installing a fraudulent judge on the highest court in the land, supporting and defending an authoritarian nightmare in the Executive, and ignoring two centuries of precedent and rule in the Legislative in order to hold on to power.
Meanwhile, the D’s seem content to pretend everything is normal and that normal Robert’s Rules of Order will prevail if only they can keep doing what they’ve always done, ignoring the rioting citizens and the freshmen Congressfolk who want to kick ass and take names in favor of collegiality.
And people die, from the plague, and from the hands, guns, and vehicles of the right-wingers who pretended to want to eliminate fascist government but now take action to uphold and defend it by killing people who just want everyone to be treated like a human being.
I’m in a dark place this Election Day. It would be beautiful if our votes actually turned things around this time. If we could, in an overwhelming, unprecedented majority, reject the GOP and turn them back. The pundits keep talking about the amazing pre-election turnout across the country, but they are also reporting on the unprecedented levels of voter intimidation, voter suppression, and outright overt actions to simply prevent votes from being made and to not count all the votes. It would be beautiful if basic democracy could overcome all this, the result of decades of work by the GOP towards the goal of power and nothing but, of Realpolitik.
I want that to happen, but I don’t have any hope that it will. I’ve done all I can do in my small circles. I’ve argued, I’ve donated what money I can, I’ve voted. Today, for once, I’d like to rest, because I have a feeling that the fight isn’t over, and I’ll be needed tomorrow. I see a war coming. Wait, that’s not right. I see we’re already in a war, but the election is going to kick it into a higher gear. Things are already dangerous (for some Americans it has always been this dangerous) but I have the feeling it’s going to get even more so. Tyrants don’t let go of power easily, and it’s rarely the tyrants’ whose blood is spilled in order to get them to leave. I may or may not be safe, but my conscience does not let me rest while others are in harm’s way, so
how can I think about anything at all other than the election?