Hey Bezos, Was ‘Melania’ Worth It?

I’m too old to believe anymore that one election changes everything. 

I’ve seen too much to think the forces that have been gathering power for decades will disappear because of one bad night.  

If we know anything from Hollywood, we should know the monster isn’t dead until it has been torn into a thousand pieces — then scattered and burned. And even then, be careful when you speak its name.

But history evolves, and last night felt like the kickoff.

For someone who doesn’t allow himself much hope, Tuesday’s results — Democrats winning both chambers of Congress in a decisive fashion not seen in modern history — seemed like the culmination of a cultural trend gathering momentum for some time.

Politics lives downstream from culture, and the culture that allowed Trump to come to power was one of cruelty and hysteria, where bullies reigned and ravaged with impunity — and the people who didn’t go along were suckers, naifs or worse.  

It was nihilism, with no deeper meaning or mission to feed that self-enrichment; where elites stood for nothing more than defending their territory. Accommodating the bullies was just what you did.

Hollywood, as the leading cultural purveyor, gave in to this era’s ethos almost instantly — and our elites collapsed at first contact like a house of cards.

It truly was, to quote the poet W.B. Yeats, a situation where the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

When the Trump restoration happened two years ago, our leadership, almost to a person, was struck dumb at best. 

Many raced to make side deals with this administration. Let’s recap, and also look at what Democratic leaders already are saying about what’s coming down the pike: