I had a side-hustle working at the English as a Second Language center in college. Remember feeling a great sense of pride following the peaceful resolution of the 2000 US election as many of the international students complimented our democratic process. "Back home there'd be...

..tanks in the streets by now", or similar comments, were common. Don't feel that pride now. GOP stole the 2000 election from Al Gore and the Democrats rolled over and we got 9/11 and the Patriot Act and war in Afghanistan and an illegal invasion of Iraq. Far as I'm concerned...

..the GOP has been cheating every chance they got for at least the last 20 years and just been getting more obvious about it lately. That happens when you lose popular support, you cheat and you embrace fringe elements. 2020 was supposed to be the Dictator-For-Life election...

..but Trump blew it due to his usual incompetence and GOP went along with the plan anyway. Now part of the USA is stuck in some echo chamber that's part alternate reality and part magical thinking. Trump may flee the country or go to prison, or maybe he walks on everything and...

..starts the whole process again, IDK, but my country is stuck with these poor sad misguided suckers no matter what. They aren't going anywhere and they're still Americans regardless of whether they believe in American values any longer (they don't) and for the life of me...

..I don't know what the solution is. What do you say to millions of people who are convinced antifa burned multiple cities to the ground and global pandemic is a hoax? How do you find unity with people who think ethno-nationalism is patriotic and people getting sexually...

..assaulted in cages is what they deserve for fleeing their dangerous effed-up homeland? How do you find common ground with people trading memes of trucks crashing into crowds of people who are simply protesting the fact they're being murdered by peace officers? I don't know...

..all I know is that the myth of American exceptionalism is dead, and good riddance to it, and now there's a lot of work ahead for everyone. If you thought the 2020 election was the end you're as wrong as can be, it took at least 40 years to get here and there's no shortcut out.