The election results were, of course, a shock and a major disappointment, and represent our nation's clear inability or unwillingness to recognize the peril and threat to our domestic tranquillity, our national security, and to over 240 years of democracy that they've voted into office. It's not only those Good Germans voters who are going along eyes wide open with the fascism, the madness, the misogyny, the racism, and the cruelty represented by Trump (you are who you vote for!), but it's also the catastrophic failure of our institutions, prominently the lack of a structured system of civic education and engagement, a legacy media which has enabled and bowed to him in acts of "anticipatory obedience," a social media cesspool of toxic misinformation and, last but not least, the leadership of his party, whose spinelessness and lack of character was essential to his survival after January 6. That's just for starters.
In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant noted that "if we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason & Dixon . . . but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side & superstition, ambition & ignorance on the other." In that sense, yesterday's election was a Second Appomattox for us, and the side of patriotism and intelligence lost. We frankly don't believe our country will ever recover from the stain of this election in the eyes of tens of millions of its own citizens and in the eyes of people around the world who once looked to us with admiration and hope.
We've been at this blog nearly 20 years and it's worn mightily on us, especially in the past two years as we became increasingly exhausted with politics defined by the depraved convicted felon and sexual predator (and so much more). So, we've discussed stepping away to rediscover and find joy in those things that mean the most to us, like family and activities like volunteering, reading, and travel. That will mean stepping away from the blog for an indefinite period, and we hope you understand and check in from time to time in the future, when we might have something to say.
UPDATE: Watch this space on January 1, 2025.
