We failed. Now we start over

I didn't manage to find safety in my bed on Tuesday night in time to avoid seeing the Associated Press make the call on Pennsylvania. So when I did finally fall asleep after hours of fretting and pacing, I woke up with just one thought: Is anyone doing research on long-term human hibernation, and are they looking for volunteers?

Empowered by a Supreme Court that's already awarded him a get-out-of-consequences-free card, backed by a lickspittle Congress that can't wait to show how far they can bend, and holding the Dummies Guide to Dictatorship that is Project 2025, Donald Trump is going to do exactly what he said he was going to do.

He's going to dismantle the Department of Education, the EPA, OSHA, MSHA, the labor board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and every other agency or department that helps the weak fight the powerful. With Elon Musk gleefully swinging his machete, expect the FAA, FCC, and FEC to join the heap of things that the government can no longer afford—especially after guys like Musk get their new tax break.

He's going to hand public health over to Robert Kennedy Jr., making a visit to the doctor roughly as effective as staring at the kitten on a "Hang in there, Baby!" poster. That's going to mean millions of sick kids and the return of diseases that have been vanquished so long that they currently exist only in the nightmares of grandparents.

[Pro tip: Get every vaccination you think you might need now before the guy who likes to decapitate whales decides that protecting yourself against the flu is illegal.]

It's going to mean that, "on day one," he hands over America's few remaining areas of wilderness to fossil fuel companies so they can drill, frack, and mine for resources that we don't even need.

Trump's second coming means that Ukraine is going to face the option of ... Sorry, there are no options. tions. No good ones, in any case. Trump will pressure Zelenskyy to make a deal. Putin is not going to offer any deal now short of complete surrender. Why should he? Putin has Trump on his side. He has Musk on his side. For him, victory in his illegal, unprovoked invasion has never been more certain. As far as Putin is concerned, Ukraine can surrender now, or fight on under increasingly desperate circumstances. He will take it either way.

Maybe there's a way out. Maybe Europe will bond together in the face of this challenge and apply all its might to save Ukraine. But don't bet on it. They all have their own Trumps waiting in the wings. Don’t be surprised if Ukraine decides to throw a long ball.

Hundreds of thousands are going to die. Millions will be displaced.

It means that everyone in Congress, the media, or anywhere else who Trump perceives as less than fully supportive is going to find themselves the subject of costly, invasive investigations. Honestly, it doesn't matter what the charges are. Some people are going to find that opposing Trump means getting to do it from behind bars, or from one of his newly constructed Gulags. News outlets will fall in line or go dark. Bet on it.

Worst of all, Trump's election means that millions of people are going to be dragged from their homes, forced into camps, and shipped off to nations where violence and death await them. That includes native-born Americans who didn't happen to be born to parents who meet the approval of Stephen Miller.

That's Trump's biggest promise. He's not going to skimp on that one.

When Andrew Jackson set out to destroy the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation, he sneered at the Supreme Court's decision. “John Marshall has made his decision," said Jackson, "now let him enforce it.”

Trump doesn't even have to make such a declaration when it comes to any of the items on his wishlist. John Roberts has already given him the all-clear.

With all that, it's not hard to see why closing my eyes until 2028 seemed like an enticing proposition. Maybe things would turn around while I was out. And at least if I awoke to a jack-booted post-Apocalypse, I could get off a "told you so" without having to live through it.

But I do have to live through it. So do you.

There's nothing to do now but to figure out why we failed so thoroughly and completely. We have to discover why a good candidate, with a good organization, sound messaging, a stellar debate performance, and almost flawless execution over the closing days of the campaign wasn't enough. Why gaffes and stumbles that would have derailed any other candidate a dozen times a day didn't stop Trump. Why "eating cats and dogs" didn't matter. Why threats of violence didn't matter. Why 31 felony convictions didn't matter.

We have to know why millions of women voted for an adjudicated rapist and why millions of Latino voters supported a man whose campaign began and ended by declaring them subhuman.

We need to know. Because we only have two years to put together a new message and a new approach to regain control of Congress and apply the brakes to this whole disaster.

There is no prescription now but the hard, unpleasant work of rebuilding. Time to start.