Michael Thoryn
11/18/2024
My despair over the re-election of Donald Trump is painful and deep. I cannot make my thoughts flow smoothly from one horror to the next.
First note:
I had the perfect election night. I went to bed at my normal time, soaking in the bad but not definitive news. And then I woke at 5:00 a.m. because Pat (spouse) who had knee replacement surgery two weeks earlier, needed cold packs to relieve her pain. I checked the news . . . the election was just called for Trump. So, the good news is that I didn’t stay up all night stewing in despair. Everything else was bad.
Two:
The January/February 2024 issue of Atlantic Magazine was themed, “If Trump Wins.” Among the short essays, my favorite magazine explored were what he would do to hurt immigrants, limit women’s rights, politicize the Justice Department, and strangle democracy. The overall message was that Trump’s election would be terrible so do everything you can to not let it happen. Turns out, most Americans don’t read Atlantic or fact-based mainstream media. They have their own news bubble crowned by Fox News and Joe Rogan. They were suffering from inflation and didn’t care that the inflation rate was way down from its worst and that the U.S. economy was the envy of the world.
Three:
Trump voters got what they chose. Billionaires in control. A likely boost in tariffs to protect American jobs. Even if, surprise, tariffs raise prices for everyone and lead to the inflation they hate and fear. And, in a nation of immigrants, a purge of immigrants seeking a better life.
Four:
A poem written in 1946 by Martin Niemöller, a German pastor, warns a holocaust can begin with incremental purges.
“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”
If they come for me, am I safe because I am a former Jew but now a practicing Unitarian Universalist? Am I safe because I’m white? Or because my parents were born in this country and I’m a second-generation American? Or that I’m a retired Fed, not an active member of the Deep State?
Five:
Kamala Harris got 62 percent of the presidential votes in Maryland. That should have been the margin across the country. I’m glad I live in Maryland and that Jamie Raskin is my congressman.
Six:
My best idea to dispel despair: Wake up Wednesday morning November 6 in an alternate timeline. There is no evidence that the time stream was tampered with. Just that Harris was elected, and the Democrats control Congress. Wishing does not make it so.
Seven:
I blame Joe. He should have served one term — it was a very good term in my opinion — and announced he was not running for reelection. A Democratic candidate would then be chosen through contested primaries or even at the convention. That candidate could run on his or her own record and their own plans for the future.
Eight:
I’m really tired. I have the desire to step away from activism and daily news. Definitely don’t want to follow developing stories as closely as in 2016. For example, is the Trump nominee for EPA Administrator anti-environment? Does the soon-to-be-appointed border czar think separating families is a good idea? Will the president allow Russia to swallow Ukraine?
But I will persist with the Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice Democracy Action Team. I will continue feeding the homeless at Shepherd’s Table. I will continue to be active at my UU congregation. If I add another action or substitute an action, it would be trying to protect the environment and roll back climate change. I fear the environmental movement is failing, but that’s an entirely different list of despairs.
Nine:
Trump fell short of 50 percent of the popular vote. His victory is not a mandate, but it’s a clear win in the electoral college.
Michael Thoryn is a member of the UUSJ Democracy Action Team [join that here] and, for 38 years, a member of Cedar Lane UU Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland. He was a writer/editor/speechwriter at public and private organizations, ending his working career at the Federal Highway Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. He is pessimistic about the next four years and worried about our democracy. (But we are helping each other work through the despair.)