There’s No Going Back
American politics may be broken forever
Today is inauguration day; it feels like election day was yesterday. In many ways I am still stunned at the outcome. I spent the last week or so of the cycle volunteering for the Harris-Walz campaign, putting energy, money, time, effort, and sweat into bringing home a win for the team that supports democracy and decency. But also to try and put an end to this sorry chapter of our politics and return our country to a sense of normalcy and the rule of law.
As the polls closed in Philadelphia that evening I was listening to Glory by John Legend and at peace with what I assumed was a Harris +4% margin in the Pennsylvania. That would be less than we’d hoped for, but it still would have been enough. In the final accounting, PA was red by about a ~2% margin.
I wouldn’t be shocked to learn they stole it — and they’ve admitted as much in public statements lately. The energy on the ground and out in the field felt electric — joyous even — echoes of our own run in 2008 with the fresh new energy of Barack Obama. It felt like that. Complete strangers joining together to hold the line for democracy and make our elections work for everyone.
I didn’t see one Trump canvasser or field office — all he had were ridiculous radio ads and billboard with blatant lies. His campaign was a disaster — from the lurching sing-alongs to the outright parade of lies and deplorables. Harris and Walz were executing flawlessly and had everyone with any sense on their side. But the curious phenomenon of the “bullet ballots” seems to have carried the day in enough swing states to make it beyond question.
As the evening dragged on and the results trended red — I realized something is deeply, terribly wrong with this country that I love. Democracy shouldn’t have to be this hard — it shouldn’t take a billion dollars and a groundswell of good people working themselves to death to preserve our republic.
As friends checked in on me in the days after, I responded with: “I think this one broke me.”
And I stand by that. I’ve written at length about a generation of public servants inspired by the best ideals of us rallying together to win the 2008 cycle and serve a sterling eight years in office. We had tough days and hard challenges, but zero scandals and every day we went to work treasuring America and her government like some fragile thing we were entrusted to oversee for a fleeting moment. Public service is a privilege and should be reserved for those who earn it with the quality of their character.
This cycle, we gave America a stark choice between joy, character, and strength — but instead the country chose chaos, corruption, and meanness. So as of Noon today, America gets to experience that firsthand. As some of my internet friends have said: “We’re about to reach the find out phase of this whole thing.”
This time should have been different. If you had ambivalence in 2016 or didn’t know much about Trump, you’d have still be a low-information voter. But this time around, the country knows exactly who Trump is and many of them still voted for him anyway.
The Access Hollywood tape — putting his misogyny and disdain for women as objects on full display — should have ended his candidacy. His comments about our soldiers and open disgust for military service — suckers and losers — should have been disqualifying for office. His incitement of a violent mob to try to overthrow the U.S. Government on January 6th, 2021 — leading to several deaths and many injured law enforcement officers — certainly should have been the end of it. The U.S. Senate should have convicted him and barred him from returning to office in his second impeachment trial— but the cowards chose political expediency over principles instead.
His theft of classified documents from the American people should have been the end of it. His conviction by a jury of his peers as a serial fraudster who manipulated the books for his businesses and real estate to defraud the people of New York should have been disqualifying. And a disaster of a presidential campaign, focused largely on unhinged rants and fueled by a politics of grievance should have led to him losing fair and square.
And yet 77.5 million American still voted for this awful, small, and hateful man. They voted for this, but now we get to experience its full impact.
The economy is currently roaring. Joe Biden pulled the country out of the COVID-19 and passed so much economic stimulation legislation it would make the most bashful progressive blush. The stock market is at an all time high (the Dow at 43,153 and S&P 500 at 5,937), unemployment at 4.1%, interest rates at 7.1%, nationwide average gas price is $3.12 and a dozen Grade A, Large eggs is $4.14. You can’t get much better than that.
Much of the carping during the campaign about the economy was all a fever-dream induced by a 24x7 fear mongering media apparatus. I will write more about the root cause of the cancer on our democracy stemming from us losing the information war to the propagandist and oligarchs, but as best I can tell the average Trump voter has two issues top of mind: 1) imaginary inflation (much like the “economic anxiety” of 2016) and 2) a jumbled mess of xenophobia, racism, transphobia, and homophobia (whether they’d admit it or not).
And so there’s nowhere to go for the economy but down. Sure there will be likely be a nice pump on this pump and dump scheme — but ultimately, these folks are out to rob the American people to put more money into the pockets of the ruling class. And their endgame appears to be proceeding quite nicely — with wealth inequality in America at an all time high.
On the other hand, the Harris-Walz campaign ran a flawless 100 days. I was very worried that replacing Joe at the top of the ticket would lead to us losing — I suppose that was the right call. But we don’t have the luxury of what-ifs…he may have lost in his own right. Harris did an amazing job with the time she had. She stepped up and onto the world stage and electrified us. Her command of policy, foreign and domestic politics, and readiness to be the Commander-in-Chief was a breath of fresh air. She was ready — and we were ready for her.
Imagine a tough prosecutor in the top job challenging Putin, Netanyahu, and Xi to keep them honest — instead of kowtowing and cozying up to them. Imagine the combination of 44 and 46 alumni continuing on to a 47 administration to continue executing on all the amazing work we’ve all put in over the past ~15 years. Public service is a privilege and we view it that way — continuing to enhance an America that works for everyone.
BUT — all those public-service-centric political folks have left the building as of Noon — and all that remains are a mostly terrified civil-service still in place trying to hold the line for America. Many of them may take their talents to a different sector these next four years.
I am also so very angry and disappointed that justice may be further delayed and perhaps denied altogether. So many people who stormed our beloved Capitol, breaking and stealing things, rubbing feces on the wall, and degrading that hallowed temple of democracy have been convicted and put in jail. We’ve managed to secure convictions for Seditious Conspiracy for the first time in over 50 years by jailing the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. But Trump will most likely pardon them, calling the hostages and patriots.
And his own crimes — at least in the previous chapters — may never be known or punished. From civil cases to classified documents to overthrowing the government, the rational and sane move in response to your criminal target being elected president of the United States was to withdraw from the fight. So much for the Rule of Law.
That all this will just be a warm-up act. He’s going to leave America a broken and burned-out husk before he’s done. He has no principals, no allegiance. And most shockingly after this campaign cycle, he has no one left around him other than bootlickers and yes men. Everyone else with any sense, decency, or actual patriotism has left his camp long ago.
It’s now a cabal, a cartel, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. And it’s moving back into the White House today.
To celebrate this day, I’m taking the day off to focus on my business and my mental health. I may thumb through the Jack Smith special counsel report about some of this crime spree.
My resolution this year is to let American politics take care of itself for a while. As Dr. King said: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” I have served my time for almost 20 years now trying to convince and persuade folks to come along for the journey of citizen-centric policymaking and honorable politics. But the country has, for a second time now, chosen the road of hatred and pain. So they are welcome to experience it on their own for a while.
After today, when there’s breaking news or if someone wants to ask my opinion on politics, my answer is simple: America voted for this — so this is what we get.
In the meantime, I will be looking closer to home. Focusing on my own family and chosen family, my marginalized communities and circles of decent, caring, loving friends, and my business and livelihood. National politics is about to become a very dark place full of liars and thieves and the men who would otherwise be the villains in our fictitious Bond movies.
I recognize that the country is a low-turnout country and many people voted for Harris and many others didn’t vote at all. But still we collectively let this happen. We collectively chose to elect the convicted felon, the adjudicated rapist, the classified document thief, the serial fraudster, the bankruptcy king — as some symbol of the degeneracy that is still thriving in the underbelly of America.
Many folks will die — many of them who voted for him. Public programs being cut and mismanaged will lead to actual deaths. Trump presided over the deaths of about 700,000 Americans due to COVID-19 and yet he’s still smiling and grifting. I want to have some empathy for those folks who may lose their healthcare, their social security checks, their farm subsidies, their jobs…but it is very hard after we’ve spent a couple of cycles seeing that these folks political policies would just as soon have people like me jailed or dead for being true to our identities. You can’t negotiate with hostage takers — but unfortunately the hostage is America and the rest of us.
As Joshua said “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” and that’s just what those of us who knew better will be doing. We’ll continue to serve our communities and answer when called upon for each other. But it’s time now for those of us who were holding this republic together with every ounce of our energy finally stepped aside and let these folks show the world even more of their depraved hearts. There will be no guardrails for the foreseeable future.
I sincerely hope we come through the other side of these four years. I hope it makes us stronger. Good times create weak men and that’s what’s stepping into office today. So I hope the hard times they inflict will cause the country to grow up and grow beyond this into the strong men that we’ll need to defeat this hatefulness eventually. But I worry deeply for our future.
I do know one thing: my communities’ commitment to America and how we are stewards of her glory and promise will not change. So at the end of this four year mess we’ll still be here and ready to remind folks what they could have had all along. I don’t think I’ll ever have the energy or interest to help rebuild it — as I said, I think this cycle broke me. But there will be others who as strongly as I do that will step up — as many of them did for 46 to move the country forward.
But in the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be out contemplating the path of joy and competency, trying to create something new and good in the world, while searching for a quality sunset and an even better glass of whiskey.
Good luck, America, I hope to see you on the other side.
