Trump verdict is a moment to celebrate in dark times

It’s a dark day in America when a former president is indicted for multiple felonies, and officially becomes a criminal. 

We should mourn the place we’ve found ourselves in, mourn the death of the shiny optimism of the American Experiment. We should not celebrate; we should be sad. 

Um….PLEASE.

Here’s where I do my happy dance. 

sure, a felon for a presidential candidate isn’t ideal, but you know what this is? Evidence that our system – at least this time – WORKS. 

This is why we have checks and balances. This is why we have a system wherein an alleged criminal is judged by a jury of their peers. 

THIS IS THE POINT. 

Things haven’t been great for the past eight years. And when you get a win – like having someone who has vocally and visibly and obviously felt for the entirety of his life that the rule of law simply does not apply to him…who then finds out that, no, actually, it does – that is something you are allowed to take a moment to celebrate. 

OK, celebration over. Time to freak out again. 

I’m kidding, but only sort of. 

Here are my personal, albeit slightly misanthropic predictions:

1. Trump will not go to jail. He’ll serve house arrest or some such; I do think there will be some tangible comeuppance.

2. His supporters won’t care.

A caveat, there – some of his supporters will care. 

Some more traditional Republicans who have struggled with Trump’s more hideous personal qualities, excusing them because “what’s the alternative” 

will find electing a convicted felon to be a step too far. Which is great. 

But that also begs the question: Where do these voters go? 

Maybe they would’ve gone to Nicki Haley, but that ship has sailed. 

Maybe they would have been Bernie Sanders voters, back in the day, but that’s some depressing water under the bridge (sidenote: I didn’t vote for Bernie, because I wanted to see a woman in the white house, but I consider that a massive personal mistake). 

Will they go to Biden? Some, of course. But I worry that many will simply be too disenchanted with the system to show up at the polls at all. 

Is a non-vote better than a vote for Trump? Sure. But we still need to consider the candidates down the line, the initiatives on the ballots. 

We need people to vote on a whole plethora of people and issues; despite appearances, it’s not actually all about the presidential race. 

So. Take your moment to celebrate. You deserve it; we don’t get many nice things these days. 

But then think ahead to the next step, and the next: Accessing those disenchanted voters, the ones who can’t bear it. And finding ways to reach across the aisle, to make them feel heard, and to assure them that sure, a second Biden term might not solve all the world’s woes…but the alternative is not just “worse,”;

 it might just be the end of the opportunity to choose anything at all.