So….. The question is, who won the election? You could say that the redhead won, and his followers. You could say that. Many say that. History, even, might say that. On some level.

On the other hand, maybe we can define winning differently. Maybe there is a win in bringing a breath of fresh air, a message of kindness and inclusiveness. Maybe not criticizing your opponent as demented, their followers as deluded, their positions as fraudulent lies, is a good thing, a win, of a sort. Maybe accepting the result and moving on is good thing.

Consider which group is more resilient in the face of such a loss. Who are the adults in the room? Who is more prepared to move ahead without election denial, litigation, denying the legitimacy of elections, the legal system, and, let’s face it, reality itself?

The economy is doing fine, and it has been for a good while, Undocumented immigrants have a significantly lower crime rate than actual citizens.

Who is more prepared to face such facts, even when it doesn’t suit their polemics?

On the visible level, you simply can’t win with these people. They never lose, they are always right, things never happened, the elections and the courts are rigged, laws don’t actually apply, and the so-called president can do whatever it wants.

But on a deeper level, the cruel speech, the undercutting, the woman-smearing, the bigotry, the hate-fanning, the me-only ism… Is a deep, deep loss, for the doers, the speakers, and the country.

The people that “won” this election, won something, but at a personal and collective loss. The people that lost (so to speak) won the battle of messaging sanity, kindness, and hope – a reminder of what normalcy looks like, or at least used to. And that’s a win, in my book (disclaimer: it’s an unpublished manuscript, in a shoebox, in the shed, by a box filled with old tennis balls).