THOUGH LAST TUESDAY’S smashing Democratic victory was unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes, perhaps the most striking thing is that on the morning after, it all felt so reassuringly normal.
asserted
it → smash → morning
The election went forward at tens of thousands of polling places.
asserted
election → go → places
Hundreds of thousands of election workers and volunteers did their jobs.
asserted
thousands → do → jobs
Citizens did theirs.
asserted
Citizens → do → theirs
No ICE goons loitered menacingly at polling places.
asserted
goons → loiter → places
There were no significant claims of cheating, illegal immigrants voting, or late-night ballot dumps.
uncertain
immigrants → be → cheating
The speaker of the House didn’t contrive a way to avoid certifying the victors.
asserted
speaker → contrive → victors
No major lawsuits were filed.
asserted
lawsuits → file → ?
The polls seemed to be more or less correct.
asserted
polls → seem → ?
The victory speeches, at least the ones I saw, were gracious, and the concessions rapid and unambiguous.
asserted
concessions → see → ?
As the Noah-level flood engulfed Republicans, Trump was asked whether he would accept the results.
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he → engulf → results
He said yes.
asserted
He → say → ?
(Though he has, more recently, begun to suggest otherwise.
asserted
he → begin → ?
This is not the America we’ve been forced to live in for the past decade.
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we → force → decade
It more resembles the country we feared we had lost just two years ago.
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we → resemble → country
For me, the most moving scenes Tuesday night were the temporary memorials to Alex Pretti and Renée Good festooned with “I Voted” stickers.
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I → festoon → stickers
The movement to preserve American democracy has martyrs now—and it has millions of adherents.
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it → preserve → adherents
Or does it?
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it → do → ?
We’ll come back to that.
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We → come → that
First, though, we deserve some joy along with the relief, and the electorate provided that in spades.
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electorate → deserve → spades
The voters freed this country from what has felt, for many years now, like a doom loop.
asserted
what → free → loop
We seemed permanently polarized, trapped in a never-ending cycle of close elections decided by a few swing states, gerrymandered up the wazoo, consuming different news, seemingly living in different realities, and goaded by demagogues into senseless hatred.
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We → seem → hatred
The 2026 election shattered that hamster wheel.
asserted
election → shatter → wheel
And some of the worst political actors got what they had coming.
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they → get → what
Vivek Ramaswamy, who managed something that no other Republican (despite some valiant efforts) has been able to achieve—namely, to go lower than Trump—was defeated by 8 points in the Ohio gubernatorial race.
asserted
Republican → manage → race
Elon Musk, who moved to Texas to savor its MAGA musk and spent almost $190 million attempting to elect the election-denying philanderer Ken Paxton, was handed his hat (the politest formulation).
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who → move → hat
Trump’s handpicked candidate in South Carolina was defeated by the physician Annie Andrews after a campaign in which MAGA coined the oh-so-witty nickname “Tranny Annie.”
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MAGA → defeat → nickname
Bo French, the GOP candidate for the influential Texas Railroad Commission, had the sort of bigoted history that has become table stakes in the Republican party.
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that → have → party
In 2023, he posted an online poll asking who was a bigger threat to America, “Muslims or Jews?”
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who → post → America
In March, he declared that the United States should deport a hundred million people.
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States → declare → people
In September, he followed up with an image of cheering UT football fans who had a bit too much melanin for his taste.
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who → follow → taste
“Americans have been displaced by foreigners,” French whined.
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French → displace → foreigners
He was “displaced” by Democrat Jon Rosenthal, who won the commission role with the support of Republicans Karl Rove, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, and George W. Bush (who somehow woke up from a decade’s snooze).
asserted
who → displace → snooze
Also in Texas, Brandon Herrera, a YouTube something-or-other who showed off an original copy of Mein Kampf and bragged about membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was defeated for Congress by Katy Padilla Stout.
asserted
who → show → Stout
You could go on all day—Greg Abbott is gone, along with Scott Perry (one of the architects of the January 6th attempted putsch).
uncertain
Abbott → go → putsch
Lauren Boebert has been shown the door.
asserted
Boebert → show → door
And for poetic justice, it’s hard to beat Scott Colom’s story.
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it → ’ → story
A successful Mississippi prosecutor, Colom was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Joe Biden.
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Colom → nominate → Biden
One of Mississippi’s senators, Roger Wicker, raised no objection (by tradition, senators can block nominees from their states).
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senators → raise → states
But the other, Cindy Hyde-Smith, refused to issue the required blue slip, and thereby blocked Colom’s nomination.
asserted
other → refuse → nomination
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
