Today, the sun rose

I didn't watch the election results as they came in yesterday; they wouldn't have changed had I done so. This morning I got up as usual a little after seven. The sun had risen, Jack, Puggles and Louis were asleep on my legs and the litter boxes needed cleaning. The world was much as I'd left it yesterday: the leak in the spare bathroom was still dripping as was the one on the patio and my to-do list was no longer (or shorter).

All that had changed with Trump's reelection was definitive confirmation of what I had long suspected: that "this is not who we are" is complete bollocks.  For whatever reason over half the country doesn't seem to have a problem with the lies, the racism, the misogyny, the bullying and threats that Trump so proudly displays.  For me, it's is a sad reflection on our collective values but it is who the majority of Americans really are, despite the coastal elites wishing it were not.  

And when Trump leaves the White House in four and a bit years, his values (or rather his lack thereof) will endure; others will replace him in his image.  Like trust, trampling norms and discarding values in a race to a more primitive, visceral, primal bottom is far easier, and happens far faster, than collectively developing and maintaining them.  

The only positive aspect of the outcome is that Trump won the popular vote and the race decisively so we are spared the two months of bickering, uncertainty and ultimately violence to which he subjected us four years ago.  I am thankful for that very small mercy.

The Time is Now

"In the morning when you rise Do you open up your eyes, see what I see? Do you see the same things every day? Do you think of a way to start the day Getting things in proportion?

Have you heard of a time that will help get it together again?  Have you heard of the word that will stop us going wrong?"

These are Jon Anderson's lyrics from "Time and a World" (both the 1970 "Yes" song and eponymous album).  They seem apropos today, November 5th, 2024, as we finish voting in the what feels like the most consequential (and nail-biting) election in my lifetime.   

The moment seems surreal.  Donald Trump announced his intention to run again almost two years ago to the day.  Some (and I was one) thought that after his failed attempt to overturn the results the 2020 election, not to mention his various other legal woes, he wouldn't run again. But whether it was because he needed to to avoid criminal prosecution, or whether he could not admit defeat, or whether he couldn't bear to step away from being the center of attention, he did.   

Perhaps it's not entirely her fault, but Kamala Harris isn't an inspiring candidate. She makes much the same kinds of silly promises politicians often make, appealing sounds-bites but without any details to let you make any assessment as to their practicality. "I'm going to bring down the price of groceries". Seriously? How exactly are you going to do that Madam Vice President?  It's more specific than Trump's "I will fix everything on day one" but no less patronising in its own way.  Certainly, hers has been a short campaign, but she appeared quite unprepared in terms of messaging and that's not altogether comforting.   

So why did I vote for her? My answer is "consider the alternative".  It's a tragic reflection of the terrible state of politics in this country that this is exactly the same "lesser of two evils" justification as motivated my choice to pull the lever for Joe Biden four years ago. 

Last night Seth Meyer listed all the seemingly disqualifying events and characteristics any one of which in normal times would have ended Trump's second run. The list is long, too long to enumerate here, so I'll try a thirty thousand foot view (hopefully not from from a Boeing 737 with a missing door). 

Let me start by admitting there are some things I think he did get right.  China is a threat to the US, both geo-politically and economically. And his focus on illegal immigration, however abhorrently articulated, has brought overde attention to a festering problem that Congress has ignored for decades. He called out Europe for its over-reliance on America to protect the world order.  And despite promoting Ivermectin and bleach as cures for covid, he deserves credit for Operation Warp Speed which got the vaccine into circulation remarkably quickly.  Kamala, in contrast, seems to stand only for pro-choice and "I'm not Trump".     

So why not give him a second chance? For me it boils down to four things: competence, character and motivation, governance and lastly tone.  While he does have clear broad goals, he has shown no interest in the nuance of different policy choices. A CEO who can't be bothered with the details doesn't seem like a good idea. Many of those in his first administration who worked with him make the same point. 

Second there is a question of motivation. He sought office (I think) to garner the attention he seems to crave, because people told him it wasn't possible, because he saw it as a way to enrich himself and his family, and because he likes to wield power.  Now, like Bibi Netanyahu, he wants the office to avoid criminal prosecution. And that's not good.  

His plan to politicise the civil service and his promises to use the levers of power to pursue his political enemies is deeply worrying. We've already seen, in the Washington Post's decision not to endorse Kamala Harris, how just the threat of retaliation has changed the political landscape. 

Finally there is tone. While not entirely alone in this, he has coursened and debased political discourse, reducing it to childish insults that make some feel good and others angry; but they do not inspire, or elevate, educate or inform. They set an example of uncivilised behavior that reduces us to our most primitive, visceral, primal instincts.  He is in short an uncivilised and un-civilizing influence on society.  

I appreciated the eight years of calm under Obama, the feeling that the president was someone who was smart, engaged and who cared deeply about the country.  And as John Oliver noted yesterday on the Late Show, we've lived with Trump's omni-presence since 2015; nine years of bluster, lies, disparagement, childish insults and threats.  To me, it feels like some ghoulish zombie who continues to lumber on, crawling out of the muck, the cesspool of its cruel, vindictive mind, every time it appears to triped itself up with yet another self-inflicted wound.   

Today seems surreal because only in my worst nightmares could I have envisioned electing someone like Trump to any office, let alone the presidency, not just once but twice.  Yet here we are; and there is a real chance (50/50 according to the polling) that he will be.   

But the problem in American politics isn't only Trump; it's a more fundamental failure of the system that with some exceptions (Obama being one) provides us with unappealing choices.   

It's in part structural (the primary system of choosing candidates) and in part financial, the enduring problem of campaign finance.  When politicians spend half their time trying to raise money, they are forced to rely on lobbyists for both money and policy direction; and they seems unable to craft policy choices that reflect the areas of common concerns most people have. So instead they trivialize issues and demonize their opponents; and in doing so they erode trust in the institutions that underpin society.  

So whoever wins this cycle, this seems to be where we're headed.