The Day After

This isn’t just any election loss, this loss will mean the erosion if not elimination of our democratic norms.

Image via the AP

by Bob Cesca

WASHINGTON, DC – I can’t stop thinking about the people of Ukraine. Imagine having zero say in an election thousands of miles away – an election that will determine whether your country will be taken over by an authoritarian kleptocrat after so many of your friends and family have been killed in the effort to fight back. 

Due to the selfishness, hate, and nihilism of 72 million very stupid American voters, Ukraine is faced with the inevitable fate of being seized and annexed by Russia, which could employ battlefield nukes in the process – with the full-throated support and encouragement of the incoming American president.

The feeling of helplessness and obvious fear among the people of Ukraine is breaking my heart today. The same goes for everyone here who will be steamrolled by Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, his economically devastating tariffs, his mass deportations, his maniacal retribution against anyone who speaks out against him, and, worst of all, the mounting effects of the climate crisis. 

This isn’t just any election loss, this loss will mean the erosion if not elimination of our democratic norms, torn down by an addled mad man who possesses nothing but seething disrespect for anything that actually makes this country great. But that’s why we have no choice but to hold fast to those values and protect them from extinction by reminding people what it really means to live in a pluralistic society built on freedom and inclusion.

Our instinct will be to turn away so we don’t have to witness the atrocities. Many of us will consider abandoning politics or leaving the country. But we can’t do that. We can’t let them force us from our homes and lives and what’s important. That’s what they want. They want to make things so shitty that we flee and leave the hollowed out carcass of the nation for them to fully colonize. No matter what, this country still belongs to all of us. And we have an obligation to stand our ground and protect it from the ungainly idiocrats.

Like you, I’m grieving today. I might be grieving tomorrow and the next day, too. But soon my grief will dissipate. Yours will, too. Don’t force it. Let it run its course. Take some personal time. Reconnect with non-political things you love. Enjoy your family during the holidays. Once you’ve recovered, lean forward, crack your knuckles, and prepare to defend the values and institutions we all cherish.

One of the realities that’s getting me through the day is knowing that second terms don’t usually go very well for presidents. Just ask Ronald Reagan, who faced the Iran-Contra scandal. Ask Bill Clinton, who faced impeachment. Ask George W. Bush, who faced his vice president shooting a guy in the face, the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, a worsening insurgency in Iraq, and a major economic collapse. Events have a way of stacking up against second termers, and what’s abundantly clear to anyone paying attention: while Donald Trump is a fascist menace, he’s also horrendously incompetent and stupid, surrounded by a rogues gallery of equally incompetent and stupid people.

Once people realize, no, he’s not returning prices to 2019 levels, and as Donald’s tariffs and mass deportations spike inflation – or trigger another deep recession or both – people will abandon him. The 2026 Senate map is already favorable to the Democrats, and we all know how midterms go for the party in power. Combine that with anger over the incompetence and tyrannical overreach and suddenly the pushback begins to take shape.

That optimism aside, this will be a painful era. I’m fully cognizant of my privilege as a white man, but that doesn’t supersede my empathy for so many other vulnerable friends and non-friends alike who will be on the front lines – whether they’re activists facing down the possibility of military crackdowns on peaceful protests, or our LGBTQ friends who will face a Supreme Court that could overturn their freedoms, or our Hispanic friends who could be inadvertently swept up in Donald’s mass deportations. We need to remain vigilant and aware. We need to keep informing people of what’s going on. We have to be the sentinels, warning our non-political friends about incoming emergencies – pandemics, raids, or financial calamities. 

The first Donald Trump term was a dark ride, and this next one will be even darker. And that means we have work to do.

Back in 2016, I borrowed a story from an episode of The West Wing, told by Leo McGarry, the White House chief of staff, to Josh Lyman who was experiencing PTSD from an assassination attempt.

This guy’s walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up “Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”

Sadly, we’ve been here before. So, let’s use it – let’s all be that friend who knows the way out.

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