The Devil You Know

Woke up this morning one year ago hopeful and excited about our first woman president, flaws and all. At the end of the day, like so many, I was devastated. I seriously didn’t know how I would survive the next four years, how I could bear up against the dissolution of everything I’d worked for and stood up for my whole life.

And yet today I woke up hopeful and excited about the elections in Virginia and New Jersey. The sensation that the tide is starting to turn and the year of resistance will bear further fruit.

My fear for the worst that was at my side one year ago, the devil I didn’t know and could only imagine the worst, turned out to be worse than the devil I do know.

But this is more than a philosophical observation that the reality is often less than one’s fears. In fact, the devil sitting in the Oval Office could hardly be worse and he’s not shy about showing his horns. But two things make the hell he’s trying to create bearable:

1)    The resistance is gaining strength. He failed numerous times to ram through the overturning of the Affordable Care Act. Previous supporters are waking up to his failings. He himself keeps firing his own henchmen in his Evil Empire. The Russian investigation is gathering momentum. I personally think the house of cards is going to fall. And then we can begin again, having seen what lay under the surface of a nation that elected Obama twice, but hadn’t yet done the work to truly keep moral evolution evolving.

2)    This Devil is dangerous—no mistake about it. But he’s not Hitler with a master plan. He’s simply a pathological narcissist who really cares about nothing beyond his fake ratings. Everything worthy of protection—our health care, our education, our environment, our safety in a nuclear world—is being threatened and is at risk. But so far, none of it is irreparable.

And imagine. A transgender person elected in Virginia! Not that this says anything about that person’s moral character, which is where we’re really trying to get to. But the fact that so many never get as far as judging character because they’ve already pre-judged sexuality, skin color, class, religion is what keeps our Moral Compass stuck at Deep South. So I find this hopeful.

My wish is that this time next year, the Devil with the orange head will be long gone and yesterday’s news and we will again move forward toward justice, truth and beauty.