Post-election interviews with Mountain State voters were painful, not worth a link. It feels terrible to resent impoverished, struggling people. Enormous rhetorical energy has been invested in efforts to lay some defensible rationale over West Virginians’ abhorrent political choices. The reality is cruel, ugly and frightening.
For many of us this will be the work of a lifetime, built on patience, grit, sacrifice and hope. Breath. Slow down. Brace for a long haul.
When you sell your soul, you better get a good deal because the second-hand market is brutal.
For those pining to restore a pre-Trumpian order, a world whose Mitt Romneys and Joe Bidens share cordial dinners together behind a theatrical facade of faux partisan rivalry, my advice is to go home and wait this out.
As Trump and the Republicans scramble to escape the consequences of their crimes, we should ensure that this fight extends all the way to their bank accounts. Make bigotry expensive and it will recede from public life.
Yes, the stakes are high and yes, every vote counts and yes, we need to take this very seriously. But no, this is not the most important election of our lifetimes and we’d be wise to remember that.
If we want to avoid a path from Trump I to Trump II, heads must fall.
Political norms, respect for law, and even simple decency, survive only because people are willing to fight to protect them.
Under the wrong circumstances, standing on civility can get you killed. These are the wrong circumstances.
