Life of Wry

Van Jones, as usual, said it best: We may (or may not) get a political victory tonight, but we most certainly did not get a moral victory. There was no repudiation of the worst, most disgusting human being ever to occupy the White House. That’s not a direct quote, but the part about political v. moral victory is the key point. We wanted a moral victory. We didn’t get it. That hurts like bloody hell. Half the country, or so, thinks this asshole is a great president. We are lost. We have lost our country.

It’s not looking good for a political victory at this point, either. And certainly not without a fight, a fight that will not be fairly fought.

We will not likely get the Senate either. My guess. Not quite clear at this point.

We are looking at a massive loss.

It’s not even clear whether outstanding ballots will be counted. They are being counted as we speak, and/or counting will resume in the morning. But, not without a fight from our colossally irresponsible pres. If things go his way, ballots would not be counted in states where he is ahead at this moment (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan…and some others), and would continue to be counted in states where he is behind (Arizona, Nevada). I believe he plans to take these ballot counting issues to the courts. I couldn’t listen, but I believe he also just declared victory. The crazy thing is, he’s telegraphed explicitly his plans to do exactly this for months. We just all hoped it would be a landslide for Biden and would foreclose this option.

So… I don’t know where we are, but it’s nowhere good. Those of us who believe in and rely on rules, protocol, laws and norms believe we just do what we always do: count ballots until we have a result. And those who believe in Trump just believe whatever that con man says…rules, protocol, laws and norms be damned.

Even if ballots are counted–and of course they should be–and even if Biden were to miraculously manage to accumulate 270 electoral college votes, Trump will pursue court challenges in courts he’s stacked.

This is the worst of all possible outcomes. We may not retake the WH. We won’t likely flip the Senate. We’ve already lost the courts. There are no guard rails. I believe our country is in serious peril. I think this democracy experiment is on the verge of failure. Mr. Authoritarian wannabe is forever in charge.. just as he wanna’d.

And may I just add: WTF is with these polls? And how did we fall for it again? They betrayed us in 2016. They betrayed us in 2020. Never again will I ever trust a poll. Tonight, my faith is disintegrating. I question my sources. I question people I’ve counted on for guidance and truth. None of it is bearing out. Jake Tapper said something that would be hilarious if it wasn’t so painfully true: “You can’t get high on your own supply.” We did. We did get high. We thought we had this one. We believed our people, our sources, our facts, our polls. None bore out. We laughed at those who thought Trump was anything but an aberration. Not an aberration. Our forever president*

*Never my president.