CALLING IT

NOVEMBER 8, 2022 – Today was a blustery fall day at the Red Cabin. A strong blow out of the southeast whipped the lake into a frenzy and made trees sway without relief. Until João and Joana called from Lisbon late in the morning, I could’ve forgotten it was Election Day (I’d voted early)—our Portuguese friends are as attuned to American politics as are the most intense American political junkies.

When Beth texted me with the results of her Covid test today (negative)—the fourth day since her flight back from out East—I could pack up for my return to civilization. My plan was to leave in time to catch the election returns this evening. About a quarter mile down our narrow drive, however, my plan was disrupted: the winds had snapped a large maple off its base and laid the tree across the drive.

For half an hour, I put saw blade to trunk and branches. By the time I’d cleared enough for a passageway, the hour was getting late. I rather savored the delay, the extra time in the woods.

Not so long ago, I was in the same camp as nearly all of our friends: horrified by the possibility, then the increasing probability that certifiable political cranks would gain control of House and Senate and win many gubernatorial and secretary of state races. But gradually, I learned to stop wringing my hands. The country has been through many disturbing political episodes, though never has such a large cast of ne’er-do-wells taken baseball bats to so much glass at the Capitol and never have so many leaders and members of a major political party downplayed—or even denied—that it happened.

As I eased past the maple limbs and trunk lying alongside the drive, I felt confident that no matter what the outcome of the day’s vote, the sun would rise on the morrow—over this neck of the woods, as well as the rest of the country. What I worried about far more than Republican control over House and Senate was the warming of the planet—and the conspicuous absence of climate change from the campaigns—of candidates of either major party.

At this hour, there is no “Red wave” and no evidence that one will form. The country won’t be ruled by crazies. One car or another of our national train has always had wheels off the rails, but except for the period from April 1861 to April 1865, we’ve managed to avoid an all-out train wreck.

As João remarked on today’s call, democracy is an ugly mess, but no matter how you slice it, dictatorship is worse, far worse. As a Portuguese with a deep sense of history and his country’s experience with dictatorship, João is not merely parroting the Churchillian view of “demos kratos”—people power. He knows the nearly half-century record of Antonio Salazar, Portugal’s home-grown dictator, not to mention the regime of Fransisco Franco next door.

If a few key races remain too close to call, I’m now “calling” the night’s biggest loser: You-Know-Who, as he goes on the attack against Republicans who lost and hadn’t solicited his endorsement.

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© 2022 by Eric Nilsson