As people sift through the detritus of this election outcome, it is clear this was another very close election. There was no giant victory for Trump and MAGA, it was another razor thin margin.  They just squeaked by and barely control the House. Sure, they do have at least temporary control of all branches of government, but their chaotic and destructive methods will not make governing an easy thing for them. 

I know there are plenty of bad apples in the MAGA cart, the white nationalists being some of them, but I don't think they are the reason for Trump's victory. They have never changed nor done anything different. They are much more emboldened, I agree, and that is never good, but the reason Trump squeezed out his tiny margins was because people whom you would not have thought would vote for him, voted for him. 

It was not all crazy town stuff and hate either. Some of it was just desperation and a cry for help, which some people did not feel was coming from the Biden/Harris side of things. The question of why they believed Trump would help them remains and is puzzling. 

I don't know if the country slides further into white nationalism, mainly because I think that is just one of the warring factions inside of MAGA. We probably have to contend with more noise and potential violence from them, but they are just a section, not the whole. I think, anyway, for whatever that is worth.

Short term, I think we have to just win back Muslims, union workers, the working class. That's not insurmountable, it is a matter of speaking to their concerns and following through on actually addressing them. Which also can be done and perhaps that path will be easier than we expect because Trump has no real interest in keeping any promise he made and in fact is going back on most of them already while talking a lot of crazy town nonsense that has nothing to do with why people voted for him and in fact goes against it. 

Trump blew smoke about an America first agenda, not taking over other countries like Canada, Greenland, and parts of Panama. Nobody voted for Trump because he was going to attack those places, nor take on the problems of other countries. Nobody gave a shit what the Gulf of Mexico was named, they cared about the cost of their groceries and inflation. He now says he can't fix those and that yes, his tariffs will likely cause inflation and prices to rise. Oh well. 

I guess what I most want to be able to do is to be able to discuss this in a meaningful way that makes sense to people because I think the discussions this country will be very soon are going to be kind of huge. 

I know what Trump's tactic will be, when prices rise, people start dying in larger numbers, the foreign wars that are taking place only grow more ugly and more of a mess...he is going to try to blame others for that. The thing is, as slim as his margins are, his side controls all branches of government...so he and his team of clowns and liars will be totally responsible for what happens. 

I think we have to keep that the focus. That "Hey, you got what you asked for, these are the results that come with that." and then ask the question "Is this the path you want to continue down?" 

It is a double edged sword that we live in a very reactionary country where opinions are rapidly expressed on social media but the thing is, when shit hits the fan here, I think the people that voted for this, are going to be quick to say "Hey, this isn't what we wanted!"

I'm struggling to look for how I can best take part in that conversation.