Today I willingly (and happily) placed our American flag in the front-porch flag holder, where it was greeted by an unseasonably warm and sunny NJ day, with the fall leaves in full living technicolor.
It was the first time in two years that I spared a single thought to the flag, or even had a single positive thought about the country it represents.
Two years ago, following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, I shoved the flag in the closet and vowed never to display it again until I was good and damn ready. As it turned out, I broke that vow a few times after our daughters let me know I should display the flag on important national holidays, like the 4th of July. If not for them, I would have happily kept it stored away in the dusty darkness.
But today? It was my decision. My choice.
The reason (in case you hadn’t guessed) had to do with yesterday’s midterm elections. I blogged about the midterms last week. In that blog, I made it known that I was hoping the Democrats would have a big night and wrest control of Congress back from the Republicans. But I also tried to temper my expectations, having been let down one too many times by this country and its broken political system.
Well…..
The Democrats did win back Congress. No, let me correct that: They gave a thorough beatdown to the Republican Party in general and the Republican president in particular. It wasn’t even close. It was a rout, a tsunami, a blowout.
I won’t mention the president’s name here. You know who he is. I will only note that he’s a corrupt, dishonest, thin-skinned, halfwit crybaby asshole, and let it go at that.
But you probably know that, too.
Man, what an ass-kicking the Dems delivered to the president and his party. The Dems didn’t just take back control of Congress. They did so in such a decisive manner that the president didn’t even bother trotting out his usual go-to lie whenever he loses an election, which is that the other side cheated.
He knew that excuse wouldn’t wash, not this time. He knew his team got thumped – that he got thumped. He knew as soon as the election returns started rolling in, as did everyone else.
So, the president took a few moments out of his schedule to tell The New York Times (which he hates) that he accepts the results and is willing to work with the new Democratic congress and blah blah blah.
But later, he went on Fox News (which he pretty much controls) to throw his usual tantrum, full of lies and self-pity.
*****
The president won’t change, not in this life, anyway. He is what he is. He’ll die soon enough, being an old man who subsists on Big Macs, KFC, and ketchup. That’s when he’ll change. When he dies.
But has America changed?
Now that’s an interesting question.
On the one hand, the midterm elections were historic in the size and scope of the Democrats’ victory. They dominated the races they were expected to win. They even dominated races they had no right winning, in states where they haven’t won in decades.
A Democrat won a senate seat in Kansas for the first time in nearly a century. A Democrat won a senate seat in Texas for the first time since 1988. The same thing happened in South Carolina for the first time since 1998.
For the first time in U.S. history, voters elected a black woman (another Democrat) as a state governor (in Georgia).
For the first time in Texas history, a Latina (another Democrat) was elected governor.
The results left no doubt that America was ready to turn the page from this sick, sorry, wicked period of history. More than ready.
It wasn’t only Democrats and progressives who voted the Republican candidates out. It also was Republicans and conservatives. It was all types of Americans, from all walks of life, and every corner of the country.
Which is all to the good. Happy news. And I’ll just leave it there.
*****
I have too many miles under the hood to go convincing myself that last night’s election results mark a turning point in U.S. history. Maybe that’s true, or maybe not. We won’t really know for another generation or so.
About the most I can convince myself of right now is that American voters opted for a gigantic do-over. A mulligan. A chance to wash off the stink of the last decade and go back to life before the nation had a nervous breakdown and nearly drove itself off the cliff.
Maybe we just got exhausted by the non-stop drama of a madman and his cult, and all the harm they’ve done, and all the relationships they’ve severed, and all the lives they’ve poisoned, and all the rich people they’ve made richer while so many others suffer. Maybe we finally just couldn’t take it anymore – wouldn’t take it anymore.
Which begs the question:
Have we really started a new chapter? Or simply turned a page?
I don’t know. And frankly, don’t really care.
I’m just glad it happened, and will settle for either.
Happily.
