11/4/2026
The Democrats had an unequivocally great night last night, there is no other way to put it. The election was a massive repudiation of Donald Trump, and to a considerable degree, MAGA. By any sane standards this is good news.
But . . . (and I admit that I am a “glass-half-empty” kind of guy). this silver lining comes with some very dark clouds.
What the American public really repudiated on Tuesday was expensive gas and hamburgers — more formally they were very unhappy about prices and the cost of living.
What the American public did not repudiate was an authoritarian presidency that evaded the law, disregarded Congress, and tried to overthrow the results of an election that they lost. Americans have repeatedly demonstrated they really don’t give a flying fuck about any of that and defending democracy is a looser as an election issue..
So the next time the economy turns sour at the same time as another authoritarian type who promise that he or she alone can fix it comes along, based on past experience, the voters will happily send them to a presidency were the presidential power have been gleefully enhanced by Trump aided and abetted by a partisan Supreme Court and a compliant Congress.
And this next guy or the next after him might decide that he or she does not want to leave office — there is precedent for that. And they might decide to pardon any of their followers who might get into legal trouble for supporting them. There is precedent for that too.
And the next one after that might decide that it is OK to use violence to stick around, and there is precedent for that too.
And the American people have demonstrated that they do not have a problem with any of that — if you promise to bring down the price of a gallon of gas.
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