At my Catholic School, the priests always said:
Suicide is murder. Murder is a mortal sin.
If you commit a mortal sin, you will go to hell—unless you confess and do penance.
With suicide, you die while committing a mortal sin—so you will go to hell.
Then, someone in my school committed suicide. The priests all said, “he’s with the angels now.”
Those who voted for Harris are doing the same thing now. After months declaring the country will end if Trump wins, people are talking about what our strategy should be for the next four years. Four years? I’m sorry, but I believe the pre-election predictions that with a Trump victory, there will be no further elections.
The United States no longer exists. There is no room for Democratic blue in our flag. There are no longer 50 states. Change the National Anthem. We are the Land of Don the Rapist and White Supremacists. Any future elections will be for show, just as they are in Russia. Future Republicans running for office are preordained to receive 90% of the “vote.” Congrats.
A note: This article starts dark and ends dark. You may or may not find that cathartic. I find nothing but anguish in the post-election peptalks I read. Maybe you’ll find community in this rant. If you’re looking for sunshine and roses, you won’t find them here.
During the campaign, I had turned to Substack writers for solace. Robert Hubbell, Heather Cox Richardson, Hopium by Simon Rosenthal, and Jessica Craven—all gave messages of hope and optimism that lifted my spirits. The solace was self-deception. My lifted spirits are suffering from a higher fall. Trust has been shattered, and I have no reason to read them again. Those trying to rally us now with community-building messages are attempting to cheer us up as we careen toward an unavoidable cliff. We are doomed. Democracy is dead. Things will get worse and worse. And then, irreversibly worse.
I’ve read the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand three times. I’ve always found it odd that Republicans saw themselves as the heroes of that story. They’re delusional if they think that they are the John Galts and Dagny Taggarts of the world. MAGA are the moochers, and it has served them well. They have accumulated wealth riding on the backs of workers. (Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos don’t work a billion times harder than their workers. They take a billion times more. They do not earn it.) Red states rely on the bounty of blue states while pointing their fingers at Democrats and accusing us of wanting to live on charity. They are shamefully blind to their own dependence.
I want Dems to embrace the message and strategy of Atlas Shrugged. The message of the book is in the title. What would happen if Atlas, the one who carries the weight of the world, were to shrug his shoulders and let the world carry its own weight?
Atlas is the hard worker, the volunteer, the one who sacrifices his, her, or their own comfort for the good of all. Democrats are the true Atlases. We are fighting for equality, better pay, fairness, and the wokeness we sheepishly accepted as an insult from the book-banning party. We are trying to protect the world from the ravages of climate change. We are sounding the alarm that our planet, like the Titanic, is heading for an iceberg. Republicans at the helm are accelerating our doomed trajectory with a fossil fuel future that will kill all except the ultra-wealthy, who will be ushered to the lifeboats. And they—the smug, entitled millionaires and billionaires—know it.
Democrats are the creators, the worriers, the workers, the doers, the self-sacrificers, the planners, the visionaries. Republicans want to believe they are the hard workers, ignorant that they rely on Dems for their livelihood and future.
The people previously known as Americans have given the country to Don the Rapist. I regret listening to the Kumbaya strategy of Democratic leadership.
Elizabeth Warren was torn apart by Republicans, and then Democrats appeased them with olive branches. Our olive branches are getting us killed. Warren created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—and Democrats allowed her to be pushed around and pushed aside. We are consumers. She was protecting us—and we let her be abused and eviscerated with racial slurs from Don the Rapist.
As Obamacare became more ingrained and appreciated by Americans, no Republican offered a mea culpa for their onslaught of resistance. And no Republican benefitting from Obamacare called out their GOP leaders for having lied to them. Too late now. Obamacare is gone. People will die.
Who are you going to believe—the Woman or the Rapist? Don the Rapist bragged throughout his campaign that the police unions and sheriffs had endorsed him. So, the cops are on the side of the Rapist. Harris was trying to win over the electorate with joy and optimism. She brought a smile to a gunfight.
We should have shut down Fox News, Sinclair, and the New York Post (Can’t do that?) But that’s exactly what Don the Rapist said he will do to CBS. (He can do it—but Dems can’t?) Fox yelled “There’s no fire” in a crowded burning movie theater. We’re all slowly asphyxiating now.
The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and every non-rightwing news source maintained the posture of Neville Chamberlain trying to appease Hitler in hopes that he’d go away. Winston Churchill saw that avoiding battle meant death, and losing the battle meant death—so the only option to fight an excessive force was with the hard truth, clear eyes, and every available resource. News sources with objective journalists tried to appease the Right. They avoided the hard truth. They tried to paint a pretty picture, sane-washing Trump and MAGA. They approached Trump with kid gloves. They pre-surrendered to Hilter.
Trump never had to defend himself for his overt racism or for being a rapist because it was never Banner Headline news. It was whispered in corners of the papers and addressed by Harris and her team with civility as their #1 goal—not honesty, not victory. Civility. Civility lost.
Harris should have said, “Damn right, the economy is in shambles—because Don the Rapist drove us off the cliff. We’ve made progress that will take time to feel. In 2 years, you will feel it and it will feel so good. The GOP doesn’t want you to ever experience progress because then you will know they are lying to you. If I’m wrong, I will resign. Don’t buy into their taunts of ‘But you had 4 years and did nothing’ bullshit. Democrats have turned the 390,000,000-passenger ship in the right direction*. Our economy is the envy of the world—NOW we will pick up speed toward universal prosperity. Don the Rapist will destroy all hope of progress. Those blaming Democrats for your pain are lying to you and nothing is stopping them from lying.
*Harris did a poor job of boasting about Dem accomplishments—the promise of the Infrastructure investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, The American Rescue Plan. Harris missed so many opportunities for chest thumping about genuine accomplishments.
How can Democrats accomplish an Atlas Shrug? I don’t know. Stop paying taxes, and you end up in jail, owing more fines. Stop contributing to society? That worked in the book when John Galt, Dagny Taggart and all the capable workers in society moved to a valley to live with integrity, leaving the rest of the country to sleep in the bed they made for themselves. I don’t know a viable way for Democrats to do that. Contact every company advertising on Fox and Sinclair. That includes every advertisier on Fox’s NFL football, The Simpsons, the Masked Singer, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Bob’s Burgers—anything that brings them money. Stop buying anything advertised on Fox and see how quickly their message changes. They are making money to deceive the nation’s largest news audience. Lots of money. We are here because of Fox. Listen to Decoding Fox News and you’ll hear how the election is being celebrated over there. Decoding Fox News is a week of Fox news in 45 minutes. And the lies it exposes are the only truth I’ve found on Substack.
Don the Rapist has been entrusted with my daughter’s future. “Stop the hell!” He barked. “Stop the hell!” MAGA echoed. The country has committed suicide. The hell hasn’t even begun.
Ugh. I feel all of this. But I feel other feels too. As a counterpoint: I think there are simply too many cultural institutions in this country for the incoming administration to fuck with. Simply because they'll be too disinterested and too certain about their permanent majority. And also, the oligarchs bankrolling Trump—and Trump himself—so obviously want acceptance. Second only to power. So they cant overtake the culture. As long as there is culture, there will be stories. And as long as there are stories, there will be appetites for heroes. And as long as heroes exist, so will hope. I saw someone we both know commenting on Threads the other day that the only bright spot over these next four years will be the wealth of protest art and music and film that gets inspired. I haven't succumbed to the darkness to the point where I can't imagine all of that getting created without sparking a response. A resistance. A return.
I’m glad to hear your thoughts Shawn. Thank you for penning them down. It makes so much sense and emphasizes part of what I’m hearing from democrats but with a vengeance. Your words here help us remember how serious this is. As your almost sister, I also want to know that you’re taking care of yourself before saving the world. (Insert your oxygen mask on first metaphor). Love you!