I still feel an urge to go up to people in the neighborhood who have/had Trump signs and congratulate them on their candidate's win.
Recently on “Fresh Air,” Aaron Sorkin explained why he didn't see Trump as a major character in future shows about his presidency.
“A character without a conscience is not an interesting character,” Sorkin said. “You take Richard III’s conscience away from him and we’re not interested in that play.”
It sounded good, but then I thought: For four years and counting, Trump has held the country – the world – in his orangey, asinine thrall.
(I'm off for a bit, coming back the Monday after Thanksgiving.)
A political cynic, I tend not to get too excited about presidential elections because they can promise more than they deliver. Exceptions are those elections that by themselves achieve a great deal. Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 was one such election, for it signaled the beginning of something (hopefully), and Joe Biden’s win this weekend was another, for it signaled the end of something (ditto).
Last week, when people were marveling at the long lines at polling stations, and taking comfort from them (large numbers of Americans politically involved), I remembered an article I read many years ago in a British magazine. The author argued that the habitually lackluster turnout in American elections, rather than a disgrace, was a sign of the nation’s health. It is in corrupt, disastrously mismanaged countries, he noted, where the population (if allowed) flocks to the polls out of desperation.
And I thought: We’ve become one of those countries.
Today I think, even more sadly: We’re that unique country that comes out in droves for corruption and mismanagement.
The Dolphins got a new quarterback (and it worked out fine). Now maybe the country can do the same.