to give a fuller, more honest response here, i do really think that for many people (myself included) 2016 felt like the last time the world seemed relatively "normal." to explain with a personal example, as a 31 year old in january 2026, i have voted in a total of four us presidential elections. of those four, three of them have had donald trump running as the republican nominee. and for many fully grown adults now, donald trump has been a dominating presence throughout their entire adult political life. if you are currently 30 years old or just turned 31, there has never been a presidential ballot without his name on it since you were able to start voting.
i think we sometimes forget now how unbelievably ridiculous and far-fetched it seemed pre-2016 that donald trump would get anywhere near political power, much less win two terms as president and bend the entire GOP (and frankly all of american politics) to his will. the idea that someone like him, as crude, vulgar, and unhinged as he is, could be taken seriously as US president was inconceivable. i think 2016 was a real "through the looking glass" moment for a lot of people and now, 10 years on, it's hard not to look back and see what a complete fucking trainwreck this has all led to.
Good analysis. I lived through 2016 absolutely convinced there was no fucking way he'd get elected, and when he did? It felt like the magnetic poles shifted or something.
Then 2020 came around, with sanity restored. Joe Biden would fix everything! The nightmare is over, or at least diminished. The calvary arrived with vaccines and economic corrections. Surely, Donald Trump would be arrested and spend the rest of his orange life in an orange jumpsuit!
Then 2024 hit, and the poles reversed again. Back into the nightmare, but somehow even worse. So many good works undone in under a year. It's just incredible how vapid, evil, stupid, and dangerous the world has become in ~374 days.
Is this the new normal?
