Open thread: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris watch party, and a few thoughts

Victory Forever, by Dushan Hanuska, CC BY-SA 2.0

I feel like I should have some weighty words as co-owner of this joint. 

It's been a long four years. A long, hard slog. 

We've won more battles than we've lost; but the losses have been dear. Muslims banned. Kids in cages. All those dead due to violence inspired by the rat in the White House. Hundreds of thousands dead from a plague which this regime downplayed. And this election has been eye-opening. 

We thought we had it in the bag. We didn't account for people lying to pollsters. We didn't account for Trump whipping up the racists to come out and vote. 

But, there are more of us than them. And we will only grow stronger. This was the best they had to throw at us. This was the last gamble of the Battle of the Bulge, and now we know their true strength, and it isn't enough.

As I keep saying, this is just one battle. A major victory, but the war continues. While there are more of us, nearly half of this country's voters were willing to go down with the SS Trump. That's something we can't ignore.

I wish the folks at the Lincoln Project well in trying to get rid of Trumpism from the GOP. But, of course, it's not "Trumpism". The GOP is infected with authoritarian fascism, which will be difficult to excise. Those who voted for Trump have had four years to see his character, and they were fine with it. Aside from defeat in war, I don't know how you root that out, especially when it is the root.

As we settle in to watch the first address from our president- and vice-president-elect, savor the moment. And a warning from Merlin:

This is your open thread.