Trump Has Even Warped How We View Victory

Well, we did it, America. Democrats have taken back the House and Senate. Not by a trickle. Not by a wave. By a “blue tsunami.” Liberals won in districts where the entire local Democratic Party once held its annual convention in a VW bus. With room for the band.Democracy has survived. The republic has been saved. After two years of Donald Trump’s second administration, we can finally begin the long, arduous process of returning America to the deeply dysfunctional country it was before he arrived.Democrats have promised sweeping change. And with their new congressional majorities, they finally have the power to hold hearings to determine why sweeping change just isn’t possible right now.We are on the verge of restoring things that, until recently, were considered routine functions of a modern civilization. Scientific research. Public health. Educational opportunity. Foreign aid. The radical notion that government employees should possess some familiarity with the agencies they run. Imagine the possibilities.One day, the Centers for Disease Control might once again be run by someone who believes in diseases. The husk of the Department of Education could return to the controversial business of education. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health might be allowed to conduct experiments without first determining whether the results would upset a podcast host.Of course, Trump remains president. Which means that, for now, Democrats can investigate the wreckage, subpoena the wrecking crew, and introduce legislation that will eventually arrive on his desk for a ceremonial veto. There will be speeches. Emotional reunions with congressional oversight. Perhaps a commemorative postage stamp celebrating the return of basic competence. And we will applaud.It’s déjà vu all over again. The Tea Party seized control of the Republican Party in 2009 before devolving into incoherence. MAGA took over in 2016 and descended into fraud and economic absurdity. But Trump has managed something even more remarkable: He has made mediocrity aspirational.Ten years ago, health care was unaffordable. Housing was increasingly out of reach. Wages struggled to keep pace with the cost of living. Millions of Americans were one medical emergency away from financial catastrophe. And those were the good old days.Now, after watching the federal government undergo the administrative equivalent of hiring arsonists to run the fire department, we’re preparing to celebrate the restoration of the very institutions that presided over those problems.Democrats will assure us that real change is coming. Not immediately, of course. First, there will be committees. Then bipartisan working groups to determine whether the committees have been sufficiently bipartisan. By 2028, we may have a comprehensive framework for developing a road map toward the possibility of affordable health care. The American people demanded transformational change. What they may receive instead is a carefully worded statement expressing deep concern about the need for transformational change. And a fundraising email. Because nothing says democracy has been saved quite like an urgent request for $5 to save it again.To be clear, restoring competent government matters. But competence is supposed to be the starting point, not the destination. We’ve lowered the bar so dramatically that future presidents may be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom simply for not tripping over it. And here’s the remarkable part. We’ll be deliriously grateful. I know this because of my bathroom.Recently, water damage in my second-floor bathroom destroyed part of the ceiling in my office below. And the bathroom itself was a total loss. What followed was six months of insurance negotiations, contractors, estimates, delays, displaced belongings, and the general indignity of living in a house that resembled a storage facility with plumbing.Then, finally, the work was completed. The bathroom was beautiful. The office ceiling was repaired. The stacked boxes were gone. My house was whole again. That first morning when I stepped into my newly renovated shower, I experienced an almost spiritual sense of joy. It was over!Six months of frustration had culminated in this glorious moment. I stood beneath the warm water, overwhelmed with gratitude. And then a thought occurred to me. Before the bathroom declared war on the house, I’d been considering replacing the kitchen counters and cabinets. And wasn’t I going to get the roof inspected? It’s pushing 15 years.Wait a minute. I had a perfectly functioning bathroom six months ago. I hadn’t gained anything. I’d endured six months of misery to return to a condition I’d previously taken for granted. Yet emotionally, it felt like one of the great achievements of my adult life. And to think, I was prepared to nominate my construction supervisor for president.That’s when I understood American politics. We are a nation conditioned to celebrate the recovery of things we should never have lost while quietly abandoning our expectations of things we should have gained. Trump has created enough institutional wreckage to keep his political opponents occupied for years. He has made the restoration of yesterday’s disappointments look like tomorrow’s triumphs.And Democrats are more than happy to accept the assignment. After all, repairing what someone else destroyed is easier to explain to voters than fundamentally reimagining what government ought to accomplish. You don’t have to convince anyone that a better world is possible. You just have to remind them that things used to be slightly less terrible.Meanwhile, artificial intelligence and automation are transforming the labor market. Health care remains a financial obstacle course. Housing increasingly resembles a luxury product. Wealth inequality continues to widen.We could be having ambitious national conversations about universal health care, universal basic income, affordable housing, and what a dignified human life should look like in an age when technology can produce unprecedented abundance. Instead, we’ll spend years celebrating the restoration of institutions that existed while those problems keep getting worse. And the politician who restores those institutions will be called a hero. The politician who proposes building something fundamentally better will be called unrealistic. Or a socialist.We’ll congratulate ourselves for getting our bathroom back while a kitchen cabinet door hangs by one hinge and the roof leaks. And when someone suggests renovating the rest of the house, we’ll explain that now is not the time for unrealistic expectations.Perhaps that’s Trump’s most enduring accomplishment. He didn’t just change the direction of the country—he changed what we consider a victory. But I understand the celebrations this week. I’ve stood beneath the warm water, steam fogging the mirror, marveling at the miracle of a functioning shower. Oh, to live in a world of hot showers.