Leonard Cohen was right by Sue Robin

Leonard Cohen’s version of Democracy was playing as I pulled up to the gas pump. Gas is close to five-fifty a gallon. I gulped, like I did at the supermarket when I saw nine dollars and ninety-nine cents for a pound of ground beef. This is election eve, and my thoughts take a run through the state of our union. It is not just the cost of things that needs to be brought down, but the ugly rhetoric, the name-calling, and most importantly the notion that being President of the United States means you can do whatever you want: think Venezuela, Iran, ICE, Ballroom, etc., without honoring the oath to our Constitution and all its inherent safeguards.

That was a few days ago. The song seems prescient now. Today there is sheer joy, at least for a moment. Trying hard to enjoy the huge voter turnout and the desire for change that permeated the country in both red and blue states. It feels as though, as a nation, we have swung the pendulum back towards right action.

Restoring our democracy will not be easy. It has been cheapened, as the White House itself has been. Plastic-molded, gold-painted junk stuck everywhere in the Oval Office. Fractured relations with the countries with which we have had deep, abiding friendships and support both for and from. Our reputation has been tarnished. Rebuilding trust takes a long fucking time.

Like when a home is blown down in a hurricane or washed away in a flood, a few nails alone will not put things back in place. One must cement a new foundation, install the posts, and ensure all the connecting pieces are solid, clean, and tight. But one never forgets the horror that tore things down in the first place, and for years to come we will need to make amends.

It is now the Friday after the election, and Trump’s response to the devastating loss his party experienced has been to talk about the ballroom and the reflecting pool and to blame the ones running for office. He has proclaimed the Oval Office a historical site in hopes that will make it impossible for the next President to remove the gilt he glued to the walls. His own party has called for the removal of Hegseth, but thus far the only change he has made is to elevate Stephen Miller, the architect of the Trump ICE raids, to Chief of Staff.

The Democrats have an enormous amount of work to do. While they have handily won both the Senate and the House, they will need to work with the Republicans to overcome the veto power that remains in Trump’s hands. The agenda is long and difficult, both domestic and foreign. Affordability and corruption, climate change and kindness are at the top of the list.

As we move to this next moment in our country’s history, I pray we are not too late and am grateful that this election restored a modicum of hope for us all. Leonard Cohen was right when he said Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.!