A dirty cloud

Today is inauguration day in the US. I worked at the polls during the November election when the president who will be inaugurated today was decided. I worked for nearly 20 hours straight, from 6:00 AM on election day to 1:30 AM the next morning to ensure all votes were accurately counted—then recounted.

This is what I wrote at 2:30 in the morning after I got home on November 6th, when the election results were already clear:

The forces of illiberalism gather, like a dirty cloud, like a swarm of blackbirds scared out of a dead tree in winter. The birds rise in a crazed mob, screeching insanely, screeching wild fury until nothing else can be heard. No note of joy or music, no words of simple kindness or love. They drown it all out, and it falls silent because what’s the point of music that cannot be heard? The entire catastrophic flock sweeps itself into madness, sweeps itself toward its own paradoxical demise by spreading amongst itself the most pernicious contagion known to humankind: epistemic nihilism.

I worked 20 of the last 24 hours to ensure Americans can use their right to vote. It is a right I’m unsure we deserve.