I don’t usually take presidential election results personally. I tried not to be too exuberant over the 2008 election or too down about 2000. I viewed 2016 as a fluke, so I buckled down to cover the incoming administration. 2024 is different.

There’s a global trend towards right-wing populism and authoritarianism, but it feels much worse when it happens in your own country. One positive recent result for the center-left was Labour’s victory in the UK. That win was the product of anti-incumbent sentiment after 14 years of Tory misrule, not policy. Keir Starmer’s government is almost as unpopular as its predecessor. It’s in to be agin.

The pandemic set the stage for this worldwide disgruntlement. I dealt with the lockdown reasonably well but became leery of crowds because of the isolation required to stop COVID in its tracks. That, of course, was worsened by my extended illness last year. This newfound shyness has gotten better but I’m not all the way back yet. So it goes.

I had hoped that 2025 would be the year in which I would only have to write about the Insult Comedian’s legal woes. Instead, he’s returning to office and escaping federal justice as a result. The man who would be king is back.

So far, I’ve given you the reasons why I briefly considered throwing in the towel and becoming strictly a cultural blogger. Instead, I took stock in myself and realized I had a contribution to make as a political observer and satirist. But it’s hard being funny when the clowns you’re mocking will have power over the future of the country.

My blogging life as Adrastos was born out of the adversity of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood. I can’t say I’ve loved every second of the ride, but I’ve done my bit. My pen name means should not run, so I’m staying put.

First Draft was born out of the adversity of the Iraq War and the overheated rhetoric about terrorism on the home front. The same administration that dropped the ball on aid to New Orleans also informed us that you were either with them or the terrorists. I took a different path.

Adversity has been my blogging university and First Draft my passion project. How can I give it up? I am, however, still sick of writing about the dizzy daily details of the Kaiser of Chaos. Blowing smoke and flooding the zone with shit is his MO. I’m not taking the bait over his ridiculous claims that he plans to annex Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. It’s a distraction from the disruption that’s coming as Trump and Musk lead us down a libertarian path to hell. Freedom, man.

In the next four years, I’ll be focused on the sidekicks, sycophants, and enablers, not the center of the cult of personality. I’ve been walking the MAGA beat since 2015 whereas my colleagues have not. They still have some fresh insight into the dubious doings of the Donald.

Does that mean that I won’t ever write about President-elect Pennywise? Hell no. I just plan to be more selective and not take the bait. I’m also trying to not use pictures of the wannabe king as the featured image of my posts. I’m tired of seeing his ugly mug on the home page of First Draft. Shit is bad enough without that.

I’d like to thank Cassandra and Jamie O for their contributions to keeping the good ship First Draft afloat. They’re fine writers and even better people. I can be finicky, persnickety, and overly blunt as a publisher and they’ve taken it well. Grazie, y’all.

The future of our democracy is in danger. It would be easier to shift into “internal exile” mode, but adversity is why I’m here and why I’m still doing what I do.

The last word goes to The Temptations: