A sigh of relief. First response to a message and a headline.

"You can't disappear democracy" protest art. John Barrettt, 2025.

 

Yes, I am glad. I am relieved. But I’ve lived too long and seen how, all too easily, havoc can be wreaked further in shorter amounts of time.

I received a text message from my sister at 8 a.m. that Texas, at least at the state legislature level, has changed. Before I went to bed last night, I skimmed emails to find that both houses have flipped. 

I am relieved. I have also not read any follow-ups, analyses or anything of the Republican responses. Not because I want to “bask in victory” or because I feel like all is well in the world. Quite the opposite, by which I don’t mean I’m going to rain on a parade or not celebrate a heartening development, but because all this means is that for the next two months, I suspect the Regime and the Occupier and their enablers the Oligarchs are going to marshal all they can to retard any progress, further dismantle what they can of the rule of law, and do their level best to retain power against the will of the electorate.

Assuming the best, that come January, disruption has been minimal, we need to know that the Congress-elect has definite, actionable plans for restoration of this country to some degree of functionality. There are a few fronts upon which they will have to work simultaneously. It is my hope that the body as a whole proves equal to the task.

Over the next two years, we would under normal circumstances, assume the incumbent president to be a lame duck. We have not had “normal circumstances for two years. We have had a criminal and a traitor in the highest office for two years, aided and abetted by a legion of criminals and representatives who have turned their back on their own espoused principles. The first order of the day should be investigations, hearing, impeachment, and/or prosecution. 

At the end of the Civll War, former representatives of the Confederacy were allowed to continue holding offices in the legislature. They were not held to account for their part in and support of destroying the United States. They stood behind a belief that not all people are created equal, that slavery was legitimate, and that the “white race” is supreme. However, either for expediency or out of weariness, these legislators were allowed to remain and eventually, continue infesting the federal government with the rise of the robber barons, Jim Crow, and social and economic excesses that led to the Great Depression decades later.

In other words, former slave owners and southerners who hated their fellow citizens in the North were allowed to enact policy and effect legislative changes after committing, for all intents and purposes, treason.

Are the quislings who are in office still equivalent to their antebellum forebears? I believe they are. This current incumbent congress stood by and supported the vilest regime we have ever seen in this country. The did not censure his rhetoric, challenge his executive orders, deny his use of American taxpayers’ dollars for vanity projects, let alone outright murder and war. They abetted criminality of a scale unseen and we now have the largest margins of economic inequality, economic inflation, ecological degradation, educational debasement, extremely reduced healthcare in a country where that concept is laughable already, an unchecked law enforcement force, lives destroyed because of that force and because of systematic (if chaotic) disassembling of departments that existed to preserve the health and well-being of those lives. This does not even address the utter humiliation of the country on the international scene; alliances damaged, if not severed; war crimes committed flagrantly; protection of rogue states and their aggression toward smaller and less advantaged ones. And it is very much past time to effect a genuine investigation into the Epstein Files.

So yes, I conclude that the quislings who remain in office should be held to account along with their leadership. They were not representing the best interests of their constituencies; they were not protecting the country. They were, however, very often profiting from successful programs by an earlier administration (that they took credit for) and very often profiting from their leaders’ financial grift.

We need to look at what is salvageable. We need to see what remains..This cannot wait until the wheels of justice spins, it has to be done concurrently; a damage report on the state of the union. 

A few things come to mind right away. The power of the purse needs to be taken hold of immediately and all the Occupier’s vanity projects halted. Every instance where funds were appropriated without congressional approval needs to be halted.

ICE needs to abolished. Not reconfigured; abolished.

Any and all damage done to states’ parks and private property as a result of so-called “border protection” needs to be restored and those states and individuals properly compensated.

Elon Musk’s assets need to be frozen and Starlink brought under supervision by NASA and/or the Department of Defense (I am loathe to writ that). The damage DOGE has caused is insuperable and if USAID cannot be restored, then a new agency based on its principles should be created. And soon; the loss of life worldwide has been catastrophic.

Every department that has been damaged or destroyed by this regime and its unqualified lackeys should be restored, and perhaps even rethought to be more robust and effective.

The Department of Justice, the Pentagon, almost the entirety of law enforcement and the military need to have their current loyalists brought to brook, investigated, and where applicable, charged, and removed from office, starting with Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Todd Blanche. The list is too long to go into, but the idea remains. 

 

These men have put our troops in harm’s way needlessly; they have used their positions to bully, party, and denigrate the very offices they hold. Obviously, they need to be replaced by reliable, responsible people capable of a high level of leadership.

Congress will need to start off with considering how to reinstate DEI. Yes, I said it; it is NOT a marginal, fluffy, liberal wish; trans people, ethnic and religious minorities, and other marginalized populations have been terrorized under this regime for two years. Additionally, it appears that most Americans support DEI, given the boycotts and hits that’s different companies took when those companies bent the knee. 

Education and book bans. Every member of congress should consider what to do about these seriously at the state level. To be sure, the Department of Education has been severely dismantled by a person with no right to be there, but I’m sure she’ll be welcomed at WWE when she’s out of office. Most seriously, a national report on what needs to be done to shore up our systems should be in place with actionable goals to support state and local school districts.

I could go on. My point, though, is not just that there is a lot that the Congress-elect will have to get to work on; it is as much that we as a people need to be more engaged in the democratic processes that drive this country.

I’m not alone in saying that local and state elections are often more important than national elections, but hopefully, this past mid-term has shown to be an example of that. 

I am neither joyful and dancing a jig nor am I such a killjoy to say that we can never breathe easy as long as the regime is in place. I am not about talking about faith in institutions, and I am fervently anti-capitalist, but I have to admit that I remain convinced that democratic processes may be the best approach to electing representation to deal with systemic issues. There are downsides; these processes take time and are often met with bottlenecks and restrictions. That is, of course, because politics is, indeed, the art of compromise.

But there is beauty in that. If I compromise with my neighbor, it is because I see something in what they say that is of value. Perhaps not to me, but significant enough to them to stand for. A compromise is a measure of agreement, perhaps more than a sign of fissure. We may not get all that we want, but we get enough and perhaps later, we come to better solutions.

I don’t believe that every disagreement needs to descent into invective or hatred. I still have some twisted pride in knowing that I haven’t “unfriended” anyone on social media because of their allegiance to the regime (though they have unfriended me). 

I also do not believe in hope. As Bowie wrote, “Hope is a cheap thing.” It is. It proves useful for many and I support that. If hope helps you get through a bad time or situation, then surely, be hopeful. Was I hoping that the political tide would change? Yes. Yes, I was. Was I hopeful that it would? No. No, I was not. It’s a small, but salient difference.

Am I hoping that the outcome of elections across the country is smooth and without contention? Of course. Am I hopeful that such will be the case when January comes? No. But by then, hopefully(!), the signing in of a new congress will be so locked-in as to ensure a peaceful transfer.

Now it’s time to catch up on the news. To drill down into local election returns, to get a feel for what has happened across the country. Now, it’s time to make further decisions about what comes next, where to put one’s attention and energy. 

America, do not become complacent. Do not retreat into apathy. Try to see what you can become. The United States remains an experiment. It may never be finished. We try different hypotheses, we lose focus of aims, and yes, it has also been pointed out that democracy is frail. I think this is dubious. Better to say that democracy is only as frail as its electorate. 

Or as strong.