I’m sure that by now, many of you share my sadness and disappointment about the results of the election. And that you’ve already listened to or read enough post-mortem commentaries from the punditocracy. So I won’t write at length here, but do feel the need at least to contribute something to the ongoing conversation.
First, if any of you reading this supported Trump, this is not for you. You probably won’t want to read what follows. But I suspect that most of you who read my blogs will know my own sympathies and share them. So this is for you.
Musing on the dire election returns, I don’t recognize this country anymore. Given Trump’s decisive victory, I feel that I am living in a land now dominated by yahoos, fools, crazies, and hooligans who relish and thrill to Trump’s brand of bile and vitriol. But why waste time and words on mere name-calling? It serves no purpose and is not constructive.
I thought that Kamala would win. I think if there had been no early voting, she might have succeeded, since her support seemed to be surging toward the end, but we’ll never know. And consider: She not only had to defeat Trump, but she was also the victim of misogyny, racism and being the VP of a very unpopular President — a lot to overcome. And, obviously, in hindsight, too much. Moreover, she had only little more than a hundred days to introduce herself to an American electorate to whom she was not well known. Had she been able to secure the nomination much earlier, she might have prevailed, but, again, that issue is moot now. What we know is that all the support she received from women, from youthful voters, and from all the celebrities who rallied to her cause was not enough. To me, Kamala was an inspiring speaker and leader, but, still, she was not enough either.
I personally don’t have faith that the Democratic party itself is enough to turn the tide. Besides, the tide has already come in and swamped those of us who supported Kamala’s candidacy. What to do now?
To my friends, I have joked that since we are not France, a coup d’état is not likely. Any kind of insurrection would be bloody and ultimately unsuccessful. So, I have a third option that I think is our only realistic solution and hope: Secession. California, or preferably, the entire west coast, should secede from the union. That, it seems to me, is the only way forward to spare ourselves from the autocratic and corrupt reign of Trump II.
If only -- but of course I don’t really have any hope for that outcome, much as I personally would prefer it.
To me, what we must depend on is not politics as usual. Our politicians have failed us. We must put our trust in and bank our hopes on the public and its power to resist, to fight against the authoritarian cruelty and viciousness we can expect from Trump and his cadre of epigones.
Robert Reich has advocated the same course, and because he is a respected public figure, I urge you to read and heed his wise words. You can find them by going to this link:
Thank you for reading this.
