Taking stock at the brink

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

There was an internet phenomenon from 2015 called “The Dress,” which seems appropriate to remember right now.

A week before her daughter’s wedding, a British woman posted a picture of a dress colored with blue-and-black lace. What followed was a worldwide viral sensation as some people saw the dress as blue-and-black, while others swore it was white-and-gold. There was no convincing either side that they were wrong, because both sides perceived they were viewing the dress accurately. Scientists have even shrugged when asked for explanations on why such discord exists.

In the case of the recent presidential election, I can think of no anecdote that better explains the outcome. Some viewed Donald Trump as a savior, a strong leader, an iconoclast who will “save” America and usher in a new era of prosperity. Others saw him as a force of evil, a narcissist, a convicted felon, a sexual abuser, a grifter and the physical embodiment of the worst American traits all packaged into one human form. 

No matter what evidence, testimony or pleading came from one side to the other, it was never going to be enough to convince people they were seeing Trump in the correct light; just like with “The Dress,” they saw the colors their brain told them were there.

No matter which candidate you supported, the outcome of this election will affect our nation for generations. With two U.S. Supreme Court justices due for retirement in the next four years, it’s a certainty that Trump will nominate two more to replace them, meaning he’ll have stacked the court with five picks — a move that will ensure a conservative ideology baked into American jurisprudence (and life) for at least the next 40 years. 

Also, the question remains how Trump will deal with his supposed “enemies,” i.e. those who weren’t loyal to him; what kind of nefarious characters he’ll appoint to his cabinet; what governmental programs he’ll eradicate; and, perhaps most importantly, how four more years of toxic, pejorative rhetoric will affect the collective psyche of the American people. 

Anyone who thinks Trump will make a pivot to becoming “presidential” at this point might want to check their homes for a gas leak, because it ain’t happening.

One thing worth pointing out is how quickly Trump’s “election fraud” claims went away the moment he won the election. It’s magical how that happens, isn’t it? It almost seems as if it was all bullshit to begin with.

Also, how about the fact that when Democrats lose an election, they accept the results. They don’t go on a yearslong grievance tour and claim the election was “stolen” just because they don’t like the outcome. They pick up the pieces, move on with their lives and plan for the next election. No saber rattling, no threats of civil war, no insurrection attempts. Just a bunch of sad people coming to grips with what might be the waning days of our American system of representative democracy as we’ve known it.

The fact that a person like Trump exists is not the problem. People like him have risen to power throughout history and they’ll continue to long into the future. They live in a world separate from ours, where accountability is absent, where up is down and wrong is right. 

The problem lies with the broken system that we use to elevate these types of people to power, the broken information network that separates us into silos where truth takes a backseat to entertainment and outrage, and the broken back of American democratic institutions.

Come what may, we deserve this, America. You get what you pay for, and we put a large down payment on four more years of the Trump chaos that culminated in an insurrection that nearly wiped our system of government off the map. Perhaps this time he’ll be able to finish the job. 

Either way, I’m not hopeful about our future. Running a newspaper through his first term was probably some of the ugliest four years of my life; and, more than anything else, I’m just bummed out that we have to go through all that again.

One step forward, one leap back. That’s the American way. 

Good luck, everyone. We’re going to need it.