The Election

Thursday November 6th, 2024. 1:30am.

Your phone is above your face parallel to the ceiling. You're scrolling. Been scrolling. Can’t stop scrolling.

Every app is saying the same thing:

Donald J. Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States of America. Donald J. Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States of America. Donald J. Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States of America.

You feel sick.

Your body is in shock. It’s numb. It sits there.

You drift away.

Anxiety keeps mounting. Everything feels supremely familiar. . . supremely terrible.

What is this place?

Déjà vu.

The anxiety evolves into panic.

Is this real or some parallel universe, perpetual loop you're in? Did the event loop just complete and re-sync with everything that was 8 years ago but only your body and bedroom are different?

What is the purpose of this— to remind yourself of something you had chosen to forget?

This can’t be happening.

You know what denial is and this isn’t it.

This is just a nightmare of a memory.

Soon you will wake up. Yeah.

But you feel awake.

What is going on.

Maybe. . . this is that new AI program and this is all happening on your headset.

Yeah!

That would mean you're actually asleep, this is the dream, and these are the Simulator results given your inputs from yesterday.

Hmm.

Okay, well, the point’s been made. End.

End!

How did they say to end it if the feeling's becoming too strong and you’re forgetting what’s reality?

Oh!

Just reach and grab the back of your head making a ‘take-off-the-mask gesture’ and they said you wake up. Thank god. That means it’s really just May, the election has NOT happened, and we have so much solar going into the ground, but even more pipeline, and everything is awesome!

[You grab the back of your head to take headset off— nothing happens].

Fuck. This is real. Or maybe you’ve had the headset on your whole life and it comes off when you—

[Breathing getting heavier]

It can’t be.

This has to be a dream.

This has to be a—

No.

This is November 2024.

And it's happened again. Donald J. Trump has been elected the 47th President.

Trump 296, Biden 242.

How?

Look at 2020’s data when Biden won 306 to 232. Two quick steps from there.

First— keep same 2020 results but update to 2024 electoral votes per state. Florida, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, and North Carolina each gained 1 vote while California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio each lost 1. Texas gained 2.

You’ve now got 304 Biden, 234 Trump.

Plus 2 red, minus 2 blue.

Second— look at 3 key state results in 2020.

1. Biden won Wisconsin by around 20k votes. There were 3.24 million Wisconsin voters in 2020. That is winning by 64 bps. Wisconsin is 10 electoral votes.
2. Biden won Arizona by around 10k votes. There were 3.33 million Arizona voters in 2020. That is winning by 31 bps. Arizona is 11 electoral votes.
3. Biden won Georgia by around 12k votes. There were 4.93 million Georgia voters. That is winning by 24 bps. Georgia is 16 electoral votes.

What would have happened if those 3 flipped in 2020? 37 votes would have shifted to Trump, or, a final result of Biden 267, Trump 271. How many do you need to win? 270.

Update for new electoral college quantities: Biden 265, Trump 273.

What happened yesterday on 11/5/2024?

That happened.

Trump won Wisconsin. Trump won Arizona. Trump won Georgia.

He also won Pennsylvania. Nevada too. And Michigan. And the popular vote.

Trump 312, Biden 226.

Game over. Trump wins. Trump won. Trump 47th President of the United States.

Donald J. Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States of America.

It's 3:15am.

You're asleep now. So is Jake Tapper.

Sean Hannity is awake. So is Tucker Carlson.

Trump is president.

This is your life again.

Welcome back.

Some time passes until inauguration day.

The peaceful transfer of power occurs. . .

You worry for days.

No way he does it.

No way he does it.

And then it happens.

He does it.

January 20th, 2025.

CNN Breaking News: Trump Takes First Step to Dismantle Parts of IRA and Disable Renewables.

You click.

You skim.

Where's the link?

There it is.

Executive order.

Click, click.

Executive Order 14166 of January 20, 2025

Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Inflation Reduction Act & Immediate Authorizations for Investor Owned Utilities

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. It is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal, revocation, and nullification of key portions of the Inflation and Reduction Act (Public Law 117-169) (the ‘‘Act’’). Section 2. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Secretary of the Treasury (the “Secretary”), the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of all other executive departments and agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and its authority to issue and or grant tax credits, exemptions, or grants for renewable energy and similar projects with authorities and responsibilities under the Act (Collectively the “Agencies”) shall use best efforts to immediately exercise all authority and discretion available to them to reject, revoke, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act, including, for the avoidance of doubt, any tax credit issuances for any renewable energy project that has not yet reached commercial operation as of the effective date of this order. Section 3. To the maximum extent permitted by any federal law, notwithstanding any state or local law, the Secretary, the Agencies and the heads of all other executive departments, and agencies with responsibilities under the Act shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to provide, to the fullest extent possible, the immediate authorization and or requirement for all Investor Owned Utilities within 30 days to dismantle, nullify, and remove any interconnection programs, projects, queues, processes or tariffs for non Investor Owned Utility owned renewable projects less than 10 megawatts, provided, however, all projects that have made their full interconnection payment shall be exempt. Section 4. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof in implementing this order. This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party, individual, or entity against this order, the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person for any portion of this order, including any Investor Owned Utility. Under no circumstance may any state or state entity appeal, dissent from, reject, or contest any approved action within this order taken by an Investor Owned Utility or a portion of the Federal Government without the explicit written authorization and support thereof from the executive branch of the United States.

THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20, 2025.

Can't happen right? Illegal right?

Totally.

Welcome dystopia.

Welcome back Donald Trump.

The end.

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. (Mark Twain, 1899)