Summary
Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 election leaves no room for ambiguity or an “asterisk” in his legitimacy, as he won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.
This outcome represents a clear mandate from American voters, who knowingly chose Trump’s policies and approach.
The anticipated results include pardons for January 6 participants, attacks on the press, and an administration filled with controversial figures.
By voting for Trump, Americans prioritized divisive rhetoric over democratic values, accepting the resulting turmoil.
I am American, and I have always loved my country. Until now, I’ve never been ashamed to call myself patriotic. My thought has always been than there will always be uninformed, uneducated assholes that vote against their own self-interests and the interests of their own country.
This election is different, though. We knew exactly what we were getting if we re-elected Trump. We responded by not only electing him in a landslide election, but handing the House and the Senate over to the Republicans, too. It was a clear message. America is not a nation of mostly good people with a few vocal “bad apples.” We are a nation of hateful, scared bigots, and we proved it in a big way.
This was a turning point in American history, and the majority of us sent a clear message to their fellow citizens and to the world. America is not a nation of mostly good people being overshadowed by a media that covers the loudest assholes in the room. America is a nation of people who by a majority support exactly what the “crazy” Republicans are saying. I would feel better if Trump lost the popular vote but won the electoral vote, but that’s not what happened.
This isn’t an election where I’ve lost only lost faith in the democratic process or my fellow citizens, although both are true. This is an election where I’ve lost faith in my country as a whole. I have never been proudly Republican or proudly Democrat, but I’ve always been proudly American. Now I’m just… sad. I don’t expect I’ll see a day any time soon where I can honestly say I’m proud of my country. The best I can do is retreat into my own personal bubble, live my life, and watch the world burn around me until the flames consume everything I care about.
Thanks for writing this for me.
I’m in the same boat. I’m a white straight guy. So, I guess I’m not in immediate danger, although I am an academic. So, I guess my choices are: fight, flee or essentially hide.
Fighting seems infeasible although I think violence is justifiable.
Fleeing would require leaving the country. I dunno if I can swing that.
So…I guess I just live my life and hope it’s not quite as bad as I fear? I dunno. I’m open to advice.
I do now hate this country and the bulk of the people who live here. Fuck them.
For me, it was the days and weeks after Jan 6th, when it became clear that outright insurrection, a violent coup, was not going to spark a course correct.
The republican party should have shattered. The non-fascists should have woken up, and fought with MAGA, and years later, a viable political party rise from the ashes.
But that didn’t happen. A few conscientious dissenters fell on their swords, most at retirement age anyway. Fascism took over completely. And the American people ate it up.
Weeks after Jan 6th, it was clear that consequences were not coming. They took their mask off, and no one cared, or couldn’t stop them.
And here we are. Convicted felon with absolute power on his way to the Whitehouse, who owns the SCOTUS, Senate, and likely the House.
Trump will have unchecked power to do whatever he damn well pleases.
Way to fucking go, America. I fucking hate my countrymen.
I’m with you. It was absolutely soul crushing to watch the worst person to run for president get elected on no qualifications and give us reasons to despise him deeply every day for 8 years. But even worse was that people cheered him the fuck on. Then demanded more. This country is lost. We have no reason to hope anymore. Everything good is in danger and everything dangerous is a possibility. We’re fucked. I’ll never have another warm and fuzzy feeling about this country or its institutions.
How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m 40, started paying attention to politics in the Clinton years and then really paying attention with Bush v Gore in 2000. America was full on neolib vs neocon bullshit back then, a quarter of a century ago. The 2nd Iraq War was a big moment for me of realizing that the only thing America stands for is corporate hegemony. Project 25 is no different than the Project for a New American Century, and the “opposition” from the “left” isn’t fundamentally against any of it, they just pay a bit more lip service to culture issues (which are of course important if you aren’t a cis white christian male, but they are clearly not enough).
Tl;dr
I am close to the same age and something feels different now. The Trump administration is many levels of degenerate beyond the Bush administration. Even Dick fucking Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris FFS. I think Trump is pretty far beyond neocon, unfortunately. Just straight up Fascist.
The Neocons may have started rolling this snowball back then, but it is an avalanche now.
Take heart. Our fellow citizens are slow learners, and few of them have paid close attention to Trump and his shit forsaken privilege in escaping consequences since he left office.
It will be a long wait, but four years of unbridled trump will open a lot of eyes. Let them get a healthy, sustained dose of exactly what they didn’t realize they asked for and then we rebuild.
And don’t give away the House like that. It’s not over yet, and with any luck that guardrail will remain.
Honestly yeah. My hopes are at this point our electoral process does exactly what it just did. It’s clear a lot of people went out and voted for him. Not a small group but a ton. And my resignment has just been “Okay, this is what you asked for, buckle up”.
It’s gonna suck ass and I really hope they don’t start some bullshit that makes them squeak out of the mess they’re about to step in. (They’ll definitely try to) But let’s give the American people exactly what they asked for and just try to stop the house from catching on fire while they realize what a bad idea it was.