Bummed that one half of our political system doesn't even pretend to care about what's right anymore and that the other half is forced to consider abandoning their own principles to fight them. Sucks when political immorality carries no penalty. In fact, it's rewarded.

Further bummed at the erosion of my faith in the American political system. I partially blame my own previous naivety, but I also think the last few years finally broke America. We're broken. It doesn't mean we can't be repaired, although maybe that's my naivety still piping up.

In the year after Trump got elected, I interviewed a few politicians and political thinkers, among them Al Franken, @MalcolmNance, and @danpfeiffer. All said that the same thing: the chances of American democracy surviving this administration were about 50/50.

Franken called our chances "a jump ball." I took their warning seriously but didn't really understand. What would a loss of "our democracy" look like? I'm still not sure I fully get it, but it's starting to take shape.

An authoritarian executive, compliant congress, and corrupt judiciary. That's where we are right now. Assuming all of that goes away in November, what are we left with? An immense repair job obstructed at every turn by many of the same bad actors who put us here to begin with.

It's going to be such a mess, which may slow the erosion of our democracy but won't reverse it. Everybody knows how much easier is to destroy than to create. If you shoot somebody, it takes a moment. Restoring that person to health takes much longer, if it happens at all.

I'm just rambling, I know, but I'm worried that this election holds no good outcomes. Just one horrendous outcome and one which will be an improvement on where we are today. Forget making America great again for a long while. Let's just get her well.