It’s not uncommon for the process of democracy to contain the seeds of its own destruction. It allows the people to freely elect the very person who has vowed to strangle it to death. Past examples are Adolf Hitler’s Reichstag victories in the 1930s and the election of Vladimir Putin in the Russian general election of 2000. Both Germany and Russia at the time had virtually no democratic traditions with which to build a strong foundation.

Here in the United States, we have no such excuse. Two hundred and forty-eight years after the Declaration of Independence, the American people have freely, fairly and deliberately elected a man who has clearly stated that he will sabotage the very institutions that keep our nation functioning. Once in office, Donald Trump has promised to do exactly what he has threatened during the ugliest presidential campaign in our history and I take him at his word.

The Democrats, meanwhile, are twisting themselves into pretzels with the usual coulda, woulda, shouldas that always follow their defeat but I don’t particularly care. What disturbs me is that despite the primitive comments about women voiced by Trump and J.D. Vance, more (mostly white) women voted for the GOP than in previous contests. Despite the blatant racist rhetoric of Trump, some African-American districts flipped red this time. Despite the targeting of Hispanic immigrants with demonizing falsehoods, 45% of the Latino vote went to Trump. More New Yorkers, one of the most diverse populations in America, voted for Trump as never before. Ignoring Trump’s virulent Islamophobia and coddling of anti-Semitic “Nice people,” Muslim-Americans and conservative American Jews swung his way. Despite his disregard for our military, veterans supported him in droves.

So while it might be comforting for liberals to pretend that Trump won because the American people are racist and sexist (and yes, it is tempting for me too,) that evaluation doesn’t compute in the face of these statistics. Bernie Sanders, everyone’s favorite grumpy uncle is getting renewed traction by condemning Democrats for abandoning working-class Americans for entrenched cultural elites.

American voters, however, are a fickle lot. Before the MAGA tribe gleefully sharpens their knives, it should be remembered that many Trump voters in 2024 voted for Biden in 2020 just as a fair amount of Trump voters in 2016 had elected Barack Obama to not one, but two terms in 2008 and 2012. Assuming Trump doesn’t outlaw democratic elections, if he doesn’t deliver the goodies and lower the price of eggs by $1.50, the Republican lead in Congress might be replaced in two years. Until then, we have some rough years ahead, a repeat of the kleptocracy, incompetence, irrational decisions and violence that followed Trump’s election in 2016.

After Trump’s victory, I listened to all the pundit blather but one comment stuck with me, voiced by former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. In her evaluation of Trump’s recent victory, she observed that the two motivating factors behind it were fear and anger. These emotions, while necessary at times; if unchecked, can turn around and destroy you. They can also destroy a nation or allow it to commit unheard of atrocities, even against its own citizens. Not surprisingly, the far right is interpreting Trump’s victory as a signal to transform the United States into a vengeful, patriarchal, white-dominated Christian dictatorship. Among the more chilling posts I’ve seen lately is one by white supremacist, Nick Fuentes, once a dinner pal of Donald Trump. Fuentes’ message to American women was quite clear. “Your body, my choice. Forever.” His comment received 22,000 likes.

Fear and anger also have a habit of ignoring facts or plain old common sense. If this election was about the high cost of living, it strikes me as unrealistic to think that billionaires like Trump or Elon Musk are going to miraculously lower the price of rent, housing or a gallon of milk. Musk, hoping for a cabinet post, is planning to enact an “Austerity Program” for the average American. According to him, we have to “Live within our means.” Musk’s net worth is estimated at $331,000,000,000. Therefore, it will be corporate and tech elites enriching themselves while exploiting corruption to unprecedented levels at our expense.

Fortunately for Massachusetts, the state has a governor whose moral compass is more intact. Gov. Maura Healey has made it clear that she will in no way authorize the state police to round up immigrant men, women, children, babies and elders for concentration camps and deportation. Hopefully, more Americans will follow her courageous example in the coming uncertain future.

Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and has written a monthly My Turn column for over two decades. He lives outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.