Last Tuesday night was surreal.
The data all indicated that DJT had no chance in hell of becoming president. He never polled above 42%. Then…the returns rolled in. The NBC anchor team already had their through-line prepped:
- “Did he lose the election on day one, calling immigrants rapists?”
- “If he loses Florida or North Carolina, he’s going to have a long night.”
As the hours wore on, it became clear that we were at the very end of the bell curve, amid Nate Silver’s 15% chance that DJT could win. I became more and more despondent, realizing that of the two bad choices, the Chaotic Evil was going to be the electoral victor.
I don’t have more to offer than the deluge of think-pieces since Wednesday morning. Democrats are largely out of power everywhere now. The majority of governorships, state legislatures, both houses of Congress and now POTUS are Republican.
I should be happy. After all, I’m a (moderate) Republican. I’ve disagreed with the overreach of both the Supreme Court and the Obama administration. I’ve decried his tendency to “act alone” on nearly Imperial terms. He acted more like a dictator than a President, exercising powers not seen since Lincoln (Civil War) and FDR (Great Depression). This election could be seen as a broad-based rebuke of that overreach.
Yet, I mourn the result. Why?
Trump shows all the signs of a Fascist. He lacks the cunning of a Hitler, but he certainly shows the charisma mixed with incompetence of Il Duce, Benito Mussolini. He wants a cult of personality, a broad feeling that he can fix things and “Do What Must Be Done.” There’s little evidence he’s thought-through anything aside from displacing the current power structure.
For some people, that was enough. Clinton certainly didn’t provide any sort of vision aside from that.
My twitter feed is full of my friends in the diaspora from Kentucky, and they’re scared and angry. Whether they’re immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ, they see “their country” slipping away.
If those fascist portents come to pass, then everyone’s country is slipping away. We couldn’t be invaded, but sure as hell can give away our freedoms to people who promise security.
So, I’m just taking some time to be sad. I’m praying for our nation, which at times has been a City on the Hill for the world, a refuge for the forgotten and oppressed, a place to start a new life. May God grant it continues to be so, and gives us leaders of vision.
God bless you all.