The view out my home office window at 7:28 a.m. What a bright, sunshiny day, huh?
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?— W.B. Yeats
Well, we know what rough beast. He’s been rending and tearing at the very meaning of our country for eight years now. We know him. And yet all those millions of people, who were right here through it all, actually went out and voted for him. To me, it remains unimaginable that even one person did. (I mean, have you ever seen this guy? Have you ever heard him speak?) But you see what happened.
As for Kamala Harris — well, it would be dishonest to pretend I was her biggest fan, but I was very impressed at the race she ran under such difficult circumstances. And in the end, I was happy and proud to vote for her and Walz and put a sign for them in my yard.
It’s a great tragedy for our country that she didn’t win. The contours of the tragedy are yet to be fully defined, but here’s a starting point: We were the great hope of the world, the greatest force for liberal democracy in human history (and if you’re one of those people who don’t understand the meaning of the word “liberal” in that phrase, please go do some serious reading). Now what will we be?
Whatever it is, there is no reason to think it will be in any way good.
But you know, as much as I mourn for the country I love, I’m even more immediately worried about people in other parts of the world — you know, those people Trump and his most fervent followers really don’t give a damn about. I could write about that from now to the day I die, and only partially describe the horrific likely effects. Just to mention one: I can’t tell you what will happen next in Ukraine, but it’s logical to expect that thousands more innocents will die, and the survivors will spend the rest of their lives being oppressed by Trump’s friend in Russia.
America can (I still hope and pray) bounce back, eventually. I’m not able to be as hopeful for Ukrainians.
Of course, other than that, some things went well, although that sound like I’m saying, “But aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, didn’t the play have some fine scenes?”
But, no longer being the public man I was, here’s my personal view. I had five signs in my yard. Here’s how things went with the folks other than Harris/Walz:
- Mary Burkett — This is very pleasing, as she seems to be the biggest vote-getter in the Lexington 2 school board race. There are four winners total, and I also voted for two of the other three — Liz Chitty Castles and Craig Aull. My fourth choice was Brian Habing, and he didn’t make it. I have little or no objection to Tre Bray, who did. Three out of four is hard to complain about.
- Micah Caskey — No surprise there, of course. But there’s a slightly interesting thing about the result. As I said in a previous post, his opponent was a very pleasant young man, and I enjoyed talking with him. But it would be hard to find anyone who seriously thought he had a chance in this Republican district. And yet — according to SCVotes, he got 39.63 percent of the vote. Let’s just round that up and say 40 percent. Of course, that could be because this is a fairly moderate Republican district, but still pretty good. Here’s why that matters: Fatalists are constantly saying there’s no point in voting in SC if you’re a Democrat, but take a look at the numbers. No doubt some people wanted Kamala Harris to win, but stayed home because soneone told them to be “realists.” (Alas, far, far too many Americans turn out only for the presidential contest.) And yet she got 40.42 percent of the vote statewide. Just because a state, or a district, is considered “safe” for the other party does not mean anyone has an excuse to stay home. Every vote counts. Every vote. Always.
- Russell Ott (for whom I had two signs). This is the one candidate I tried most to help elect, as ridiculously minor as the help may have been — introducing him to friends, knocking on doors to talk a very few neighbors into putting up a sign for him. Make no mistake — the guy who made this happen was Russell himself. He worked as hard as I’ve seen anybody work for a state Senate seat. He made his case, and it was clear that he was the better candidate to any objective observer. But there was reason to worry. His district went for Biden in 2020, but Biden wasn’t running, and I never saw much similar enthusiasm for Kamala Harris in these parts. Congratulations, Russell. I’m glad to see you will be my senator.
That’s about it, from where I sit.
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I was pleasantly surprised this morning to learn that the Corinth-Shiloh Special Tax District proposal for our little corner of Oconee County passed handily by something less than a two-to-one margin. The local volunteer fire department (which also provides EMS services) will still remain mostly volunteers with a small staff of paid 24x7x365 professionals becoming the bedrock of the department. It was nice to see that when the county can’t (or won’t) provide the funding needed for adequate public safety, local residents stepped up to assess themselves to support a growing housing and commercial need generated by the sprawl of neighboring Clemson University.
It was quite foggy this morning at my home too. I didn’t sleep well either, but I never do. Has nothing to do with the election. I didn’t watch any news coverage last night. I actually watched some old Dick Van Dyke episodes with my wife. We enjoy sitting down and watching 3-4 back to back about once a week.
One of her “friends” on social media was making some pretty strong pro Trump posts last night. He posts a lot of political stuff- usually taking very aggressive stances on the very predictable issues that you see from the right. He attends church with my wife. His posts were along the lines of “we defeated evil” and such.
The interesting this is, my wife is also friends with his 20 something year old daughter on social media. She and her dad are close. She doesn’t post much. But today I went out to grab lunch and sat down to eat and my wife sent me a text of a post his daughter made this morning on social media expressing her concern over Trump’s win and the future of the country. So, we both thought that was quite interesting.
My main concern is some of the people Trump has mentioned empowering: RFK Jr, Musk, a group of young male online influencers that seem to only have in common that their personal lives are a mess.
I wonder why Republican Senators will think of handing over power to some of these people.
It’s going to be an interesting ride.
The main lesson I’ve taken from Trump, and this isn’t new, is that you can say whatever you want to say, treat other people however you like, and do whatever you want to do and get away with it politically if the other person agrees with your politics.
I told my wife (and she’s already seen me doing this) that my language and the way I talk about people is going to become a lot more vulgar, even around other people. It works beautifully for Donald Trump.
I am stunned by the breadth of the outcome. I can definitely understand why someone would not want to vote for Harris, but I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone, knowing at this point what we know about DJT, what cognitively-impaired, incoherent vitriol and nonsense comes out of his mouth on a daily basis, would vote FOR him.
Some friends say “relax, he was President before and democracy didn’t crumble, etc”; to which I would say, A) they’re forgetting how much of a mess his first term was, and B) there’s a clear record of how Trump’s desires to carry out some extreme, even crazy actions were thwarted on a number of occasions by his own incompetence, lack of understanding of the processes of government, or being held back by more level-headed members of his administration, in many cases the same people who were issuing warnings about re-electing him this election season.
He is not going to let himself be held back this time, I feel pretty certain. He will be careful to fill his administration with true believers and loyalists, & he’ll have both houses of Congress and a SCOTUS to keep the path clear for any action he wants to take. Who in his shoes wouldn’t feel completely invincible? Not someone given to self-restraint in any way whatsoever, there will likely be no one, no institution that can hold him back this time. A big worry is how he and his followers will respond when the 48-49% of the electorate that opposed him begin to protest various actions or advocate as best they can to resist certain policies.
We just have to take things a day at a time, but at the same time we will need to be vigilant and nimble, because events may accelerate quickly, in ways that we cannot begin to predict. Perhaps conscientious members of the governing party may emerge to speak out and to throw a little sand in the gears, but for every Liz Cheney or Mitt Romney there are many more Lindsay Grahams and Marco Rubios and Nikki Haleys, former critics of Trump who jettisoned convictions for access to power. Plus, if Trump gets his way, Liz Cheney will go on trial, so who in his own party will really dare speak out against him now?
We can at least say we’re about to live through a moment in American history completely unlike any other, a moment where our democracy really does hang in the balance. We will all have front-row seats.
Thanks, Phillip. You’re so right, especially about this being “a moment in American history completely unlike any other.”
Liz Cheney shouldn’t worry about being put on trial. After all, Trump himself was just convicted on all 34 felony charges he faced. And nothing came of that. Who should fear courts in a time when the rule of law itself is dead?
As for “democracy.” People keep using that word. And I understand why. It’s hard to come up with one word that everyone will understand that communicates the qualities that made this country the city on a hill that Reagan once celebrated. Another such overused word is “freedom.” I’ve written about that before. What it tries to describe is a fine thing. But it doesn’t sum up what we’re about. After all, taken as an absolute value, freedom can describe bad things as well — which is why our language has the phrase “taking liberties.”
Ditto with democracy. After all, what just happened on Tuesday? Democracy happened — the public will of a majority of the country in a time when there is a profound sickness abroad in the land. As I’ve said many times before, Trump isn’t the problem. Trumpism is. The problem isn’t the ridiculous person who says those outrageously stupid things at rallies. The problem is the mob that you hear cheering, applauding what he says.
So what word do we use to describe what we see ourselves losing at this moment? Well, there is no one word. There’s the rule of law, which I mentioned above. There’s liberalism, which we don’t use because most people, across the political spectrum but especially on the Trump side, don’t understand what it means. There’s pluralism. There’s freedom of conscience, which is articulated several ways in the First Amendment. There’s the willingness to see ourselves as parts of something greater than ourselves, but within a structure that profoundly values the individual. There are checks and balances, based in our founders’ distrust of human frailty. There’s mutual respect, in many forms, but especially in the quote that is so often credited to Voltaire. (Many heads on the left will not at that last sentence, and rightly so. But too many will ignore, and fail to regret, the deep contempt and calumny that folks on the left have heaped on the right for daring to disagree with them. And that’s a big cause of what has happened.)
What America has been, and what we see dying before us, cannot be contained in a word. But forgive me for my pedantic digression, Phillip. I’m glad you weighed in, because I always value your thoughts on things. Too few express themselves as well as you do, and such expressions as yours are a big part of the reason this blog exists.
So thank you. I’ve just been brooding a good bit about that word lately…
My favorite broadcaster was highlighting this article this week on his Sirius radio show on the POTUS channel.
Sadly, this is right.
Be Honest, America. This is who we are: a bitter, broken land that wants Trump to lead us.
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/trump-elected-president-meaning-america-20241106.html
Yeah, I can’t tell what that is, since I don’t subscribe. Is it the Carlos Lozada piece, “Stop Pretending Trump Is Not Who We Are?” That’s one of the things I was trying to direct people to on this post…
I didn’t vote as you obviously know and I’m 100% comfortable with that- but my local races were a mixed bag.
a few dems won over Republicans, a few Republicans won over Dems. (None of the races came down to 1 vote)
I noticed the state senate will be even more Republican. A few new Senators are 100% Trumpers to the core- one particular one is way over the top in your face in the social media world (including a lot of vulgar comments – when he isn’t talking about how Christian he is). LOL
I think it’s time for House Democrats to elect a new minoring leader. Todd Rutherford has had the job a long time and every 2 years, they lose more and more ground to Republicans. Not sure it would matter, but it’s time for new leadership with SC Democrats.
I don’t enough about those other Senate races to comment on them, but I’m very happy that my new senator will be Russell Ott. And proud of the tiny, tiny part I played as a voter in helping elect him. Of course, I did a tiny bit more to try to get a handful of others to vote for him, too, because I knew that in this election, in this district, any Democrat would need every vote he could get. And while there are plenty of Democrats I wouldn’t lift a finger to elect, Russell is the kind of Democrat I like. Elect a lot more Democrats, and Republicans, and maybe even independents, like him, and everything starts getting better…
It’s clear that South Carolina played a central role in shaping the results. This election season highlighted prominent leaders from both parties: while Rep. James Clyburn’s influence bolstered Democratic campaigns, Republicans like Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and Trump’s senior advisor Jason Miller united to drive conservative messaging forward. Their efforts helped craft a strong narrative of economic revival and national stability, ultimately aiding in Donald Trump’s victory. For Democrats, key South Carolinians like DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin (a Biden Senior Advisor) made significant strides in inclusivity and social justice outreach, though they faced strong Republican momentum.
In light of this new political landscape, I hope South Carolina’s impact will foster unity rather than division. The words of James Louis Petigru, who famously said the state was “too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum,” capture a long-standing perception of division. However, let’s pray that South Carolina’s growing influence can transcend old divisions and serve as a positive force. From my vantage point abroad, I remain optimistic that this peaceful transition signals an era where unity, diversity, and mutual respect become core values in American politics.
New senators in the SC state house like Tom Fernandez will not foster unity.
Tom is a firebrand- his rhetoric is Trump + 20%. He is an “in your face” guy and is proud of it. He is the kind of guy who believes newborns should be provided a firearm on the way out of the hospital nursery.
Jaime Harrison has been a huge disappointment at the national level. National Democrats need a new strategic thinker in leadership. Jaime’s record, including personally, is not great.
I was pleased that both VP Harris and Joe BIden have went out of their way to concede the election and Biden immediately invited Trump to visit the White House.
That’s a basic courtesy that Trump did not have the grace within himself to offer when he lost.
Worse, Republicans and Conservatives didn’t care that Trump didn’t offer that courtesy and let him slide on it. The “American traditions are of utmost importance” party caved on that- as they always do.
As David Frum wrote today, the United States is about to become a very different country. And not a better one. Because it chose to scorn its better angels and instead embrace its asshole side.
This has been coming for some time. I remember when I saw the first sign of it. On entering a local DMV back in 2010 or so, I came upon a woman wearing a t-shirt that bore the image of a finger pointing outward, below which was the caption “You Suck!”
What was a personal statement then has since blossomed into a nation-wide cultural and political phenomenon: the accommodation of nastiness at the highest levels, in terms of both presentation and policy.
Yes, I did my part to stem the tide on Tuesday. But in my precinct 77 percent voted for a country that can be as nasty as it wants to be.
So, to all the Trump voters out there:
Go ahead and congratulate yourselves on making America great for assholes and oligarchs, a country in which every child can dream of one day growing up to become one. Apparently this expresses the kind of “values” you live by.
David Frum is a smart guy. A lot of other Republicans are not. Of course, I could say some things about some Democrats, too, but this doesn’t seem like a time to give them a hard time, so I won’t…
Frum is no longer a Republican. He officially left the party this past Wednesday.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-atlantic-s-david-frum-leaves-gop-after-trump-victory/ar-AA1tDQv2
Well, I guess I should keep up better with him… 🙂
But to mine a cliche, you might say the party left him, rather than the other way around…
According to Ancestry.com a line of my ancestors were from a western province/oblast of Ukraine. It makes me very sad to watch the present and anticipate the future of that country. I traced some of my people to a small village in Slovakia 18 miles from the Ukraine border. Slovakia has a Trump wannabe, Robert Fico, in charge. Along with Trump, Orban, Fico, and the far right gaining strength in France, Germany and Italy. not a pretty picture unfolding. If I were Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, etc I would be very worried of Putin.
To quote Sargeant Hulka from Stripes, “lighten up, Francis”.
Democracy is intact. The world isn’t ending. Only the lunatic fringes on each end of the political spectrum really care what happened last night. The rest of us will go back to our lives, our jobs, our families, and our friends.
Get a hobby.
You really, truly despise people who care, don’t you? Why else would you spend so much time expressing your contempt?
Of course, I don’t disagree with your urge to focus on loved ones. I certainly do. But I also care about the rest of the world. You can do both…
And of course, a quote from Sgt. Hulka is always welcome…
It was nice to hear about Harris conceding the race last night and and formally doing it today in public.
Also great to see Biden call Trump and invite him to the White House.
Trump wouldn’t offer them that. But they did the right thing and offered that to him.
Conservatives don’t care. But it was important to do the right thing.
Or, as I seid on Twitter:
Stay dry y’all!
I divide my time between rural New York, where I was raised and am a “significant” property/business owner, a small ranch in Utah, and the Philippines (wife and children living there – for now. IMMIGRATION!).
For over 20 years, though, I was a “Yankee” living in South Carolina, an informal community leader in a state deeply rooted in its conservative values. Watching this election unfold from such diverse settings highlights just how profoundly South Carolina’s influence shaped the nation’s current political path. Though the outcome may be positive, the journey to this point hasn’t always been easy or particularly pretty. This election season revealed sharp divides across the country, challenging our ability to align national values in an increasingly diverse, multicultural society.
Yet, I remain hopeful that South Carolina’s evolving role will bring greater understanding rather than deepen division. The state’s rise in political prominence could mark a shift from historical discord to genuine unity. After all, many in South Carolina and beyond seek leaders who can empower communities, strengthen families, and bring about lasting, self-sufficient change. Too often, we see policies that “throw a fish” rather than “teach to fish.” I pray this transition inspires leaders across both parties to rise to the challenge of bridging gaps, promoting self-reliance, and fostering an environment where opportunity is accessible for all.
In times like these, we must center our focus on peace and understanding. Let’s hope that South Carolina’s impact leads us to a new era where these values take root across the nation.
Has there been a worse party chairman than Jaime Harrison? After a series of neverending defeats and loss of seats in the SC legislature, he was given a DEI promotion to national Democratic party chairman and proceeded to lose to Donald Trump.. and lose the Senate and possibly the house. At some point shouldn’t he have a victory on his resume?
Don’t feel bad for Jaime though. He’ll end up as a DEI hire for any number of defense or banking corporations.
I don’t have any opinion of Jaime’s performance because I haven’t paid a lot of attention since he’s been up there.
But he and his Republican opposite number were very fine chairmen down here on the state level…
By the way, you’ll notice that “Republican opposite number,” Matt Moore, didn’t stick around after Trump came on the scene. I don’t see how he could have…
I was thinking about turning myself into the Lexington County Sheriff. But I thought of another person to turn myself into. McMaster. After all, he endorsed Trump. Given Trump’s transactional view of people, I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump called McMaster, “If you endorse me, I’ll appoint you Governor.”
I am in a category that Trump calls: “The Enemy Within”.
My wife pointed out someone we both considered to be “friends” on social media was making some very crude comments late Tuesday night about anyone that would have voted for any Democrat. (They specifically said “any”). I say “they” because it’s one of those profiles where the husband and wife’s names are linked together. For example, “John & Mary”
They were borderline vulgar in their comments which was very unlike the people we know to be. This was unlike them as they really don’t talk politics at all.
It made my wife mad (which is hard to do) and then she showed the comments to me.
My wife was upset and then a little later deleted them online and told me she didn’t feel comfortable interacting with them anymore. This will be a surprise to them because we do interact with them a fair amount. I have no issue breaking up our relationship but it’s disappointing that they think of us as evil people. They’ve been to our home many times, including birthday parties, family events….. without any issues- very friendly interactions.
Social media can be revealing to people’s true feelings and how they really are inside. You can learn that people you have a long relationship with- people that have been in your home for meals and seem invested in how you are doing and how your children are doing really think you are evil.
But you live and learn and move on as we have now done.
Note: My wife and I aren’t evil.
https://theonion.com/todays-historic-front-page-november-6-2024/
To some Trump supporters, it is all about “liberty”:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-the-republican-crackup-a-clash-between-liberty-and-democracy/ar-AA1t1hdd?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=9ae6b4a9765647e6c840e9a65de842c1&ei=68
I think this opinion piece may give a little more insight on why some people voted for Trump and the mindset behind it.
The liberty to tell trans people what medication they can take (including adults)? That type of liberty?
The type of “liberty” that causes Republicans to say that trans people and gay people shouldn’t be protected against discrimination under the law?
Or the type of “liberty” that motivates many Republicans in state legislatures even today to make it more difficult for gay people to be treated the same as heterosexuals?
That’s a hell of a definition of “liberty”
No label is perfect, because there’s propably not a person in the world whose wishes can be summed up in a word. And yet people keep trying.
In defense of these folks, I think they more than make up for the inconsistencies you find with their overall attitude, which is basically that of a 2 year old, or a teenager — “I don’t want anybody telling me what to do!!!!”
And then, of course, there are the specific items, such as wanting to walk around in public openly bearing weapons.
But as I say, no label is perfect. I mean, think about it: Pretty much all the people who voted for Trump call themselves “conservatives” And very few of them fit that label in any way. A conservative defends the established order and stubbornly resists change. These folks want to blow it all up…