For those Americans who had long been fearing the possibility of the re-election of former president Donald J. Trump, the events of the night of November 5, 2024, meant waking up to a new reality on the morning of November 6, 2024, that was, for many, more lacerating than that of the night before. **
Plus there was the urgent question: “Where do we go from here?”
With this inquiry in mind, WitnessLA gathered public musings on the topic by a variety of people who published their thoughts via social media.
The majority of those whose words we selected are professional writers. A few are politically involved. Yet, they are advancing no big plans. At least not at this moment. Like the rest of us, most seem to be struggling to regain their balance. Still, all seem to write with a sense of urgency—whether they communicate in a single line, or through an essay.
So….read on.
*****
Paul Krugman
Nobel laureate. Op-Ed columnist, @nytopinion, author of The Return of Depression Economics, The Great Unraveling, Arguing With Zombies, and more.
“Don’t ask whose fault this was. Plenty of time for second-guessing and recriminations. Ask instead, what can you do? For my part, that means telling the truth as I see it, as long as I can. The media will be under a lot of pressure to toe the line; don’t capitulate in advance.”
*****
Anne Lamott
Mother, grandma, wife, sister, writer, activist, Sunday School teacher Writer of Bird by Bird, Help Thanks Wow, and more. Her Latest book is Somehow: Thoughts on Love.
“I don’t even have the words for not having any words. We stick together. Breathe. Keep the patient comfortable. Feel like shit. Take care of the poor, each other and ourselves. Look around for all the light that remains and can never go out. Sending you all a big quavering hug.”
*****
David Plouff
Campaign Manager and White House Senior Advisor for Barack Obama. Senior Advisor for Kamala Harris for President. strategist, analyst and book author. His books include The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory
“It was a privilege to spend the last 100 days with @KamalaHarris and the amazing staff led by @jomalleydillon who left it all on the field for their country. We dug out of a deep hole but not enough. A devastating loss. Thanks for being in the arena, all of you.”
*****
Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Publisher, part-owner, and former editor of the progressive magazine The Nation.
“The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote, ‘No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.’”
*****
George Gascón
Los Angeles County District Attorney, who was just defeated on Nov. 5, 2024, in his quest for a second term. The new DA will be Nathan Hochman, a politically conservative former federal defense attorney. In addition to his four years as LA DA, Gascón is also former Assistant Chief LAPD, former Chief of Police, Mesa, AZ, former District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. He has also known Vice President Kamala Harris, “for decades.”
“The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking. Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever, and our commitment will not waver. Nevertheless, I have called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as Los Angeles County’s next district attorney. I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform.”
*****
Andrew Weissmann
NYU Professor, former Assistant US Attorney, co-host of the podcast, Prosecuting Donald Trump, and co-author of the bestselling The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary,.
“My heart goes out to so many people today, but my first thoughts today have been about the courageous people of Ukraine, fighting with and for their lives for democracy and freedom. We let them down.”
*****
E. Jean Carroll
Journalist/author, advice columnist. Her most recent book is What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal She successfully sued Donald Trump twice in her two high ticket defamation lawsuits, which resulted in two separate juries agreeing that he sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll. The juries held him liable for that conduct by awarding Carroll $88.3 million. He is fighting the awards.
On January 6, on X/Twitter she wrote only….
“I tried to tell you.”
*****
Chasten Buttigieg
Teacher, speaker, advocate, husband of Pete Buttigieg, bestselling memoir author, and children’s book writer of Papa’s Coming Home,”
“A million thanks to everyone who volunteered, told their stories, and sacrificed so much for our country and families.
“Take time to gather your strength. Hug your kids. Take a break. And when you’re ready, lace up your shoes, roll up your sleeves, and get back in the fight.
“I can’t wait to join you.”
*****
Rebecca Solnit
Journalist and Author. Of her books, she is best known for “Men Explain Things To Me.”
Below is what she posted on X today:
“What I Wrote Last Night”
“They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love.
“The Wobblies used to say don’t mourn, organize, but you can do both at once and you don’t have to organize right away in this moment of furious mourning. You can be heartbroken or furious or both at once; you can scream in your car or on a cliff; you can also get up tomorrow and water the flowerpots and call someone who’s upset and check your equipment for going onward. A lot of us are going to come under direct attack, and a lot of us are going to resist by building solidarity and sanctuary. Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones.
“People kept the faith in the dictatorships of South America in the 1970s and 1980s, in the East Bloc countries and the USSR, women are protesting right now in Iran and people there are writing poetry. There is no alternative to persevering, and that does not require you to feel good. You can keep walking whether it’s sunny or raining. Take care of yourself and remember that taking care of something else is an important part of taking care of yourself, because you are interwoven with the ten trillion things in this single garment of destiny that has been stained and torn, but is still being woven and mended and washed.”
*****
Margaret E. Atwood
Legendary author, and now also Substack commenter, Atwood is particularly well-known for The Handmaid’s Tale.
What she wrote today on X was short but to the point.
“Despair is not an option.”
**PostScript
In the story above, WitnessLA originally wrote “January 5, 2024,” and “January 6, 2024” instead of “November 5, 2024,” and November 6, 2024″ in both the headline and the introduction to the rest of the story.
This inexplicably loopy set of typos probably gives WLA readers an unfortunate picture of WLA’s editor’s state of mind on November 6, as I worked on the above story.
Third world politics in full effect with the election of him.
The sheep have no clue that their wool are soon to be sweaters with their chops on the grill.
The sheep dog did his best, but the wolf betrayed many of them. Fact and fiction unified by reality.
@ United States Citizen
“The sheep have no clue….” Sounds like you speak from experience.
Nonetheless, your disdain & hatred of “him” is in full bloom. What is utterly amazing is how certain people’s reactions are contradictory to what they profess to be (i.e., tolerant, accepting, loving etc.).
I would summise that there are going to be a lot of your peeps having total melt downs and may possibly seek some type of professional mental health services.
Let me know how you feel when you begin to reap some of the benefits (i.e., lower inflation / prices etc.), due to the “election of him.”
Lefties, “HALF OF THE COUNTRY IS BAD! THEY NEED TO THINK LIKE US! WAAAAAAAAA!”
Righties, “we don’t like the direction our country is going, let’s change course”
Moderates, “literally no one voted her into that election, they shoved her down our throats. No thanks”
this is november
Editor’s Note
Dear spell check,
Thanks for flagging my bizarre and repeating typos. I think they’re likely a clue as to my own less than ideal of mind on November 6. Take care, everyone, whatever your political leanings.
C.
IDK maybe a little humility is in order. Pride goes before the fall, instead of retreating into an echo chamber and tripling down on the same ideas that got you here, a reassessment of your dogma may be in order. A little seeing it from the other guys point of view.
Fat chance, no doubt Celeste will be cheering on the next wave of violence, censorship, and jailing political rivals, all in the name of battling the orange devil. The brain washing is very real.
If you are old enough to post on this site, you were probably an adult in 2016. Remember, you survived from 2016-2020, relax and watch your bank account soar and things get a little cheaper and safer around California. The women in your life will be fine too, my wife, daughters, sisters, aunts, mother, and mother-in-law did fine during those years! The left need to move on, and if you can’t, go get help! Geezzzz
Democrats need to look no further than the radical, left wing elites, the snobs who completely abandoned Mr. and Mrs. America. Their twisted and sick ideology was so far left of left, the common Democrat walked away and endorsed Trump. Men in women’s locker rooms were shoved down everyone’s throat. Manipulating little children to abandoning the gender was a window into the sick world of radical liberalism. Taxes, cost of living, cost of fuel, regulations, China controlling the manufacturing market, the list is endless. The party of the working slob abandoned them so they could attend elite parties and were in the pocket of Soros and his clan. Biden was brain dead the day he was sworn in and dropped like a rock over four years yet all were told he solved Rubrics Cube puzzles in record time while having morning coffee. The 25th Amendment is reserved only for Trump. Harris, an unqualified candidate who couldn’t answer a legitimate question without a teleprompter. She was inept, hidden from the corrupt media because she was incapable of a legitimate thought other than telling every reporter she was raised in a middle class family, that she had down pat. Vibes and smiles, zero plans, zero solutions and zero credibility, that is all she had to offer. But radical democrats live in a vacuum, seeking a utopia that does not exist. America had enough and did the unthinkable, they walked away from Harris and joined the party of common sense. So the elite columnists just keep writing your dribble and circle the wagons at your next cocktail party. The rest of us will give Trump a chance and judge him on his actions. Be objective, you might be surprised.
Editor’s note:
Dear Joe Jitsu,
We really appreciate your post (and those of others). I hope you’re right about the new president. It’s a pity that there aren’t more forums in which left and right can just talk in good faith as if we were all neighbors. Thanks again for writing.
With hope and respect,
C.
PS: Good name.
If illegal immigrant enforcement truly fairly and equal is enacted, California’s population will shrink drastically.
The demographics would affect and decrease every community which mirrors the united nations.
@pondering point
My math says about 5% in California, I would not call that drastic! I’d call it improvement!
The terms “Cancel Culture”, “Doxing” and shouting people down are all terms and practices celebrated, encouraged and adopted by the Democratic Party. When the party allowed itself to be co-opted by the radical left and “looked the other way” as long as whatever far-out extremes view, or actions appeared to be a “win for their team” they lost their way. This represented a huge turn-off for a majority of moderate and reasonable Democratic voters. To say the “adults were back in charge” when Biden won was just another effort to virtue signal and cast a fictional narrative versus one of reality since the administration, its surrogates and media supporters went all in to demean, belittle and neuter the voices of decent and reasonableness. Gone was the idea, “I hear you, but I have to respectfully disagree and here is why”. Instead, a unified message promogulated by the Democratic Party echo chamber that the economy was great, inflation was transitory, the border was secure, and crime is down has been parroted and pushed on the American people for 4 years when they see the realities in their everyday existence. Talk about smug, elitist and being so far removed from reality of regular working people! This election was not about individuals have an overwhelming love for President Trump or the Republican Party but a repudiation of how far off course the current Democratic Party has strayed and the appeal of a party that at least acknowledged the reality of everyday Americans whether they be Black, Hispanic or White.
@ SIIS,
Obviously you failed math and you don’t leave your bubble. You have no clue as to reality in California.
@ L.A County Voter,
January 6th at the US Capitol showed true colors in addition to the “Orange Man” who put a BLACK mark on Democracy.
@INV
You are right, the total population of California is 38.97 million, and currently 1.85 million are immigrants. Most math would say that is 4.74% of California’s population! I apologize for putting the number .252758% in your favor! I guess Goggle numbers are wrong, and you, who knows everything about California, numbers are right.
I have lived in California over 50 years and served LA county residents AND ILLEGAL immigrants for for 30 years. I know what I am talking about!
Go join forces with the new LAPD Chief, who does not plan to enforce laws which are on the books. Coming into this county, and specifically this state IS still a crime and you and others choose not to enforce that huh?
You clowns are still focused on ONE date in which Trump had nothing to do with! Why don’t you look at the last four years how bad this county and state has been???
@ SIS
Denial and dismissiveness are par the course per you, Donald Duck Trump, your cohorts and the costume wearing characters who attacked the Capitol on January 6th.
As for your residental status in California, you can either hunker down and deal with it or LEAVE. Make “Moving Trucks” Great Again.
@INV
So you are not going to question my math? Funny when we bring FACTS to the table, you liberals change the subject! Was my numbers and math correct? You should at minimum apologize, even if you don’t agree with the answer!
No reason to leave, the state is getting closer to red than ever, however probably will never be fully red, which will keep you happy!
If you do not think ILLEGAL immigration into California is not a problem, well then, you are the problem! Street takeovers, full on stealing from stores and homelessness due to drugs and alcoholism, people taking from the “California system” and our tax paying dollars going to illegal immigrants is wrong!
And just for the record, just because i’m a conservative, does not mean I condone what happen in DC on Jan. 6th. @#$% those people who caused harm! A crime is a crime!
@ SIIS
As a Independent, not a liberal, I concur with your 3rd paragraph, totally.
The chaos in California didn’t happen overnight nor will trump’s rally cry of mass deportation either.
You’re correct as well with crime being a crime, be it by POTUS or the punks who “smash & grab”.
Last point, don’t be goosed by Google with numbers and statistics concerning the numbers of illegal immigrant. It’s more than what Google claims and more than what you may think.
The backgrounds of illegal immigrants range from the the poor & destitute to college graduates.
The only problem of supposed mass deportation will be selectivity. That in of itself is a whole other forum.
@ SIIS
As a Independent, not a liberal, I concur with your 3rd paragraph, totally.
The chaos in California didn’t happen overnight nor will it end during trump’s time in office with his rally cry of mass deportation either.
You’re correct as well with crime being a crime, be it by POTUS or the punks who “smash & grab”.
All criminals specifically those who commit felonies should be imprisoned, period. You already know……
Last point, don’t be goosed by Google with numbers and statistics concerning the numbers of illegal immigrant.
It’s more than what Google claims and more than what you may think.
The backgrounds of illegal immigrants range from the the poor & destitute to college graduates with skin colors that mirror a Crayola box of crayons
The only problem of supposed mass deportation will be selectivity. That in of itself is a whole other forum.
Like every administration in the Oval House and in Sunny California, I have my popcorn for the show and a peacemaker for current and future felonists. Not much will change………
@INV
My guess is our thought process is closer than we first thought. What I do have a problem with is high ranking Law Enforcement people coming out and saying they will not support deportation. We have a jail system FULL of illegal immigrants who need to be deported.
If California was an empty glass, and the waiter came by to fill it with water, you drank some, he came by and filled it again, but more than you drank, you drank some more, he replaced what you drank and poured even more, eventually that glass would overflow!
So basically i’m sick of water in my lap! Let’s use some of our tax dollars to help rebuild/repair other countries to make it nice for people to want to stay! Trump has never said he was going into people’s homes and taking illegal immigrants back to where they came from, he spoke of deportation of criminals.