A Brief Thought on the Election Experiment

This morning my mind reverted to the empirical. This election was an experiment, and the results revealed that Donald Trump is what approximately half of the people in this country want. Even with everything that has happened over the last 8 years, and all the lies, January 6, and so on, like a dog returning to its vomit, they chose him and validated his behavior along with that of the Republican party that stood by him. They set their hearts on him. Oh, people will have their reasons, but I wouldn't take most of them too seriously (more on that in a minute).

Yes, this is disappointing, but also revealing. It's like learning that a romantic interest no longer cares about you. Some of the signals in the past could be interpreted in a more charitable light, but now there is no question and the state of your relationship is bracingly clear. Similarly, we are not in this position due to an unfortunate set of circumstances or flawed strategic decisions. About half of the people in this country know what Trump is and want him. I've already begun to see articles that say things along the lines of, "voters were concerned about the economy," blah blah blah, but I'm not buying it. These are after-the-fact justifications for a decision that was made in their gut. Who Trump is and/or what he was selling appealed to them for whatever subconscious reason. The rest is mostly window dressing to convince others (and perhaps themselves) that they had a good reason to accept his obvious poor character and pathologies [1].

We are in a new era. It is what it is, and now it is plain to see.

Notes:
1. This wasn't simply a choice in the lesser of two evils forced upon a reluctant electorate. Trump overwhelmingly won the primary election [2].
2. I'm proud to say that I have voted against Trump in every primary and general election that he has been on the ballot. I did what I could.

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