An American Tragedy
November 09 2016 11:49 AM
The light has gone out in America. It is darkness now.
Donald Trump is the President-Elect.
So this is how they felt in 2008. How the fuck did they survive it?
She blew it. Hillary Clinton fucking blew it. We all blew it, too, I know, in a bazillion tiny ways, but mostly it was her, first and foremost, and the Democratic Party leadership.
And it was WikiLeaks. And the Russians. And the FBI. And the Republicans’ suppression of minority voters (this includes SCOTUS scuttling the Voting Rights Act). And Johnson & Stein. And industrial automation and Ross Perot’s Giant Sucking Sound and the hollowing of the American middle class and a resurgent American anti-intellectualism. And the Electoral College.
And it was the 60 million people who voted for Trump. And the 79 million registered voters who didn’t bother to vote at all this year.
Feeling a compulsion to tidy up, to clean and fix everything around me, to take care of everything I've been avoiding and putting off. Feels like it's time to start putting my affairs in order.
Buses are running, traffic lights are working, toilets are flushing, key fits in the lock of my office door, law of gravity appears to still apply. Numbly surprised.
Just breathe.
An email early this morning from high school pal Philip Vaughn, 25+ years an ex-patriate, a husband and father living in Sweden:
Donald Trump is the President-Elect.
So this is how they felt in 2008. How the fuck did they survive it?
She blew it. Hillary Clinton fucking blew it. We all blew it, too, I know, in a bazillion tiny ways, but mostly it was her, first and foremost, and the Democratic Party leadership.
And it was WikiLeaks. And the Russians. And the FBI. And the Republicans’ suppression of minority voters (this includes SCOTUS scuttling the Voting Rights Act). And Johnson & Stein. And industrial automation and Ross Perot’s Giant Sucking Sound and the hollowing of the American middle class and a resurgent American anti-intellectualism. And the Electoral College.
And it was the 60 million people who voted for Trump. And the 79 million registered voters who didn’t bother to vote at all this year.
Feeling a compulsion to tidy up, to clean and fix everything around me, to take care of everything I've been avoiding and putting off. Feels like it's time to start putting my affairs in order.
Buses are running, traffic lights are working, toilets are flushing, key fits in the lock of my office door, law of gravity appears to still apply. Numbly surprised.
Just breathe.
An email early this morning from high school pal Philip Vaughn, 25+ years an ex-patriate, a husband and father living in Sweden: