Hokusai– Great Wave off Kanagawa (1931)
I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults. If Texas were a sane place, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
–Molly Ivins, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1 March 1992)
Wow.
I don’t even know what to say this morning. That was overwhelming.
Early this morning, still watching results come in, my jaw dropped to ground and never came back up. It was such a powerful and decisive, not to mention beautiful, statement by the people in nearly every state that they were fed up and ready for a major change. It was a stunning repudiation and rebuke of the Trump/MAGA divisive agenda with its callous cruelty and naked racism, not to mention its greedy corruption and mob-like bullying.
It was a beatdown, plain and simple.
None was more incredible than the blue wave that washed across Texas. I never anticipated the stunning beatings that took across the board in Texas. It was simply amazing as every statewide election went blue by margins that were beyond the reach of conspiracy and meddling by huge dark– and not so dark– money.
Thank you, my friends in Texas. You have shocked me in a way I never saw coming. And to those, as well, in Iowa and Kansas and in so many other states and localities where people made the choice to opt for a more humane form of governance.
I hoped for it but, as is the case with so many hopes, never expected it to come to fruition.
I am playing a song this morning that I have been waiting to play again for some time now. It’s Florence & The Machine doing her The Dog Days Are Over. Of course, the dog days are not really over until these elections have real-world consequences. The old adage is that you must be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. That is the case right now. There is deserved elation at the moment but there is so much to do that requires intense effort and a fearless effort to restore accountability and integrity in our government.
When and if they can boldly follow through on their potential, then the dog days might be over.
But for now, the horses are coming so you better run…
Wow.
I think I slept fully for the first time since Nov 2015 last night. But it’s a long game (did you read Dark Money?) and right now all I can say is that now they know we aren’t going to walk into the trap without a fight. Last night was beautiful.
Can’t wait to see what it inspires to come out of your brush!
What happened in Texas wasn’t a ‘beatdown.’ That could imply violence and something far less positive than what happened. As one of my strongly Republican friends said, “I don’t want to go to [Talarico’s] church, but I appreciate his decency.” Obviously, a lot of us were ready for a little more decency, and a change in direction. It’s equally amazing that we now have a Latina governor; it’s going to be very interesting going forward.
Perhaps beatdown seems too harsh a word for a hopeful return to decency. However, Talarico did invoke the story of David and Goliath in his victory speech early this morning. Sometimes it takes a beatdown to truly get back to goodness.
ps: I’ve always loved Molly Ivins, and that’s one of my favorite quotations from her.
Wouldn’t you love to hear her observations on last night?
It is Election Boxing Day.
Put on your glove and put up your dukes.
Exactly. The election was just the warm up. The real fight is ahead.
Yeah!