‘Trump Has Won, but Democracy Is Not Over’
Tom Nichols, for The Atlantic:
Paradoxically, however, Trump’s reckless venality is a reason for
hope. Trump has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a
disordered child. He will likely be surrounded by terrible but
incompetent people. All of them can be beaten: in court,
in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public
arena. America is a federal republic, and the states — at least
those in the union that will still care about democracy — have
ways to protect their citizens from a rogue president. Nothing is
inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not counseling complacency: Trump’s
reelection is a national emergency. If we have learned anything
from the past several years, it’s that feel-good, performative
politics can’t win elections, but if there was ever a time to
exercise the American right of free assembly, it is now — not
least because Trump is determined to end such rights and
silence his opponents. […]
Trump’s victory is a grim day for the United States and for
democracies around the world. You have every right to be appalled,
saddened, shocked, and frightened. Soon, however, you should dust
yourself off, square your shoulders, and take a deep breath.
Americans who care about democracy have work to do.
I wrote last night, “Strong déjà vu as acceptance sets in.” Referring, of course, to watching the results come in on election night in 2016. Now the day after, I still sense some of the same similarities to 2016, but I more feel the differences. I was braced for this result, this time. I wasn’t in 2016. Trump winning in 2016 was like a trapdoor we didn’t even know existed opening suddenly under our feet. But once the unimaginable happens, it’s no longer unimaginable that it might happen again. I was optimistic about this election. But polls are polls, and I knew my optimism was based on some degree of faith that the polls were wrong. I still think, now, that there were good reasons to suspect the polls might be underestimating Harris’s and down-ticket Democrats’ chances. But after 2016, I knew the polls showing Trump’s resiliency could be right.
Trump’s first term in office was disastrous on numerous fronts, and of the few things I feel certain about right now, one of them is that his second will be worse. This is going to be bad. But we shouldn’t be concussed like we were in 2016. This was not unimaginable. We knew this might be the result. And we know how we got through it last time: by going through it, with eyes open, resistance strong, and, as Nichols exhorts, shoulders squared. Truth and justice are the American way. The fight goes on.
★
Tom Nichols, for The Atlantic:
Paradoxically, however, Trump’s reckless venality is a reason for
hope. Trump has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a
disordered child. He will likely be surrounded by terrible but
incompetent people. All of them can be beaten: in court,
in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public
arena. America is a federal republic, and the states — at least
those in the union that will still care about democracy — have
ways to protect their citizens from a rogue president. Nothing is
inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not counseling complacency: Trump’s
reelection is a national emergency. If we have learned anything
from the past several years, it’s that feel-good, performative
politics can’t win elections, but if there was ever a time to
exercise the American right of free assembly, it is now — not
least because Trump is determined to end such rights and
silence his opponents. […]
Trump’s victory is a grim day for the United States and for
democracies around the world. You have every right to be appalled,
saddened, shocked, and frightened. Soon, however, you should dust
yourself off, square your shoulders, and take a deep breath.
Americans who care about democracy have work to do.
I wrote last night, “Strong déjà vu as acceptance sets in.” Referring, of course, to watching the results come in on election night in 2016. Now the day after, I still sense some of the same similarities to 2016, but I more feel the differences. I was braced for this result, this time. I wasn’t in 2016. Trump winning in 2016 was like a trapdoor we didn’t even know existed opening suddenly under our feet. But once the unimaginable happens, it’s no longer unimaginable that it might happen again. I was optimistic about this election. But polls are polls, and I knew my optimism was based on some degree of faith that the polls were wrong. I still think, now, that there were good reasons to suspect the polls might be underestimating Harris’s and down-ticket Democrats’ chances. But after 2016, I knew the polls showing Trump’s resiliency could be right.
Trump’s first term in office was disastrous on numerous fronts, and of the few things I feel certain about right now, one of them is that his second will be worse. This is going to be bad. But we shouldn’t be concussed like we were in 2016. This was not unimaginable. We knew this might be the result. And we know how we got through it last time: by going through it, with eyes open, resistance strong, and, as Nichols exhorts, shoulders squared. Truth and justice are the American way. The fight goes on.