The election, pt. 2

This photo was taken right after Mary and I voted. We didn’t plan to wear these shirts; we didn’t consult each other. To each of us it simply seemed the proper thing to do.

Ecuador’ll play a World Cup qualifier in Montevideo at 6:00 tonight. The Uruguayans are without Edinson Cavani. The Ecuadorians, also, are stricken with injuries and suspensions.

Just as this week many U.S. citizens prayed for a favorable electoral result, I now pray for Ecuador to win this soccer game (and I ask you to, too).

Speaking of the election, my preferred candidate lost. Certainly, there will be some awful consequences. And yet this result is not wholly ungratifying. The mighty have fallen; the cocksure have been slapped in the face. And by “the cocksure” I don’t mean Trump, who wears his insecurities on his sleeve. I mean, more polished people.

I recall how, early during the Republican primaries, a former professor of mine would post “Go, Trump, go!” on his Facebook wall, sardonically eager for the Democrats to contend with a “weak” opponent in the general election. It’s this sort of arrogance – this dismissal of those who don’t approximate certain standards of “decorum” and “enlightenment,” standards reachable for only a limited number of people – that has fueled the anger that lifted Trumpie into office.

I’ve long been more dismayed by this arrogance than by any of Trump’s transgressions.