Well, we (see below) did it! We elected the guy who had tried to overthrow the duly elected government of the United States to be our President. Like a lot of people, I'm trying to understand what that means, both for the moment and going forward.
Bret Stephens, in a NY Times essay Eugene referred to in an earlier post, chides Harris supporters who rationalize their loss to a man "they saw as a twice-impeached former president, a felon, a fascist, a bigot, a buffoon, a demented old man …" by adopting the theory that "a nation prone to racism, sexism, xenophobia and rank stupidity fell prey to the type of demagoguery that once beguiled Germany into electing Adolf Hitler." This, Stephens asserts, illustrates the "broad inability of liberals to understand Trump's political appeal except in terms flattering to their beliefs, [which] is itself part of the explanation for his historic, and entirely avoidable, comeback."
OK, fine. Let's have that conversation. Let's put aside all talk of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, or stupidity. What happened on Tuesday was not about any of that; it was about taxes and trade, and/or the overall state of the economy, and/or the rights of trans people, and/or immigration policy, and/or access to abortions, and/or vaccine mandates, and/or any of all of the many other issues on which Harris and Trump had vastly differing views.
