I think now, in this time, it seems very scary, like anything is possible. It seems like 9/11 writ large. We have a lot of the same fears. When they attacked New York and Washington, we didn't know what would be next, if there would be a next.
I don't think the damage is going to be to cities or to buildings. This was a remarkably non-violent election, given the circumstances. I was on pins and needles for months wondering if this would be the day things would explode.
It never happened. About the only casualties are our beliefs, our values, our principles as a country.
Speaking for myself, the cities... yes, the cities are better, but here I feel besieged, surrounded by an army of angry white people who don't believe in human rights, who don't believe in the rule of law. When you have that situation, I don't think that's a "swing state". That phrase, to me, implies some common ground, some notion of mutual benefit, and that America is dead.
We're not ever going to change these people's minds. We're not ever going to be able to persuade them how foolish and destructive they're being.
We need to make a society for ourselves. A society people will look up to, will want to be part of. Because we can't make a society for everybody. We've failed to do that.
So I'm heading for where there are more of "us" than there are of "them".
