Americans achieved a tremendous victory against the forces of illiberalism. People should be joyful, but not irrationally exuberant. The forces of illiberalism and backlash have been repelled, but we must remember such victories are always temporary. The forces of illiberalism are at best temporarily lying dormant ready to arise again.  That is why we have to always be vigilant and recognize how those dark forces can rise again. They always rise again. They always will unless we are ready to suppress them.

The US just suffered through 2 years of a leader clearly on the illiberal spectrum.  He is quite willing to use his ample powers to attack his personal enemies and support his corrupt family and friends. He was quite willing to use those powers against the most vulnerable people in the country such as trans people, even though they are a tiny group without any significant power. He sent masked ICE agents, who closely resembled Nazi Brownshirt storm troopers, to roughly haul people from their homes and schools to detention centres far from home. Many were sent to countries to which they had no connections without recognizing their constitutional rights. He clamped down on the free speech of his perceived enemies.  He really shaped the country to walk like Nazis, talk like Nazis, so perhaps they are Nazis. And, most worryingly, he always had millions of Americans ready to support him in those endeavors. Worrying about democracy was never a foolish thing. It was always a profoundly necessary thing. And by this recent election Americans have bought a little bit of respite, but that is all. Those dark forces are alive in the country. No victory against those forces, no matter how sweet, is permanent.

But it sure is sweet.