There is much to ponder over the election results on Tuesday. Even Republicans are showing concern. Texan Senator Ted Cruz called it “a disaster” and “an electoral blowout.” Sean Hannity called it “a disaster of a night” and tells us his New York friends “are officially depressed and scared.”
One letter writer, identifying himself as a “lifelong Republican,” feels “they have lost the Republicans who are centrists….There is nothing in MAGA for us so we are voting for candidates who better reflect our values.”
Ah, “values.” What a sweet word to hear when watching masked thugs beating up on people on the streets and financed by the Trump budget (“big beautiful bill”) to the tune of $145 billion voted on by every Republican in Congress. Those who also voted to gut Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and USAID money for dying children in Africa and elsewhere, while giving trillions in tax cuts to billionaires.
Another letter said: “As an Ex Republican, I agree, MAGA does not have any place for common-sense centrists or the rule of law, actually. Not one thing.”
The president has become a lame duck president after just nine months in office. The emperor has lost his clothes.
Democrats are licking their chops over what might transpire a year from now when mid-term elections occur. Kudos to all those who ran and listened to the voters and won, and all those who showed up to vote for common sense and the common good and values other than the dominant voices of those now in charge of things.
It’s as if someone or something finally lit a match in Americans, and “we the people” woke up out of a long slumber. Democracy happened. People voted their outrage. I think this is just the beginning of a collective wake-up.
I wonder what the billionaires and the companies that received equivalent largesse in the Republican evil budget bill are thinking these days after the election. Maybe their investment in the most corrupt administration in history may not have been so smart after all?
We know the names of at least 24 persons and corporations who have put money into Trump’s pockets for the glitzy “ballroom” that will dwarf the White House. Among them are these: Altria (Philip Morris); Amazon; Apple; Booz Allen Hamilton; Comcast; Google; Lockheed Martin; Meta (Facebook); Microsoft; Palantir Technologies; T-Mobile.
The amounts they have contributed are being kept secret, but the fact of a blatant conflict of interest for each of these companies is no secret. Many of these companies hold huge contracts with the federal government—$279 billion since 2021 alone!
Many of them were facing federal enforcement actions for violating various regulations, including many antitrust and labor rights violations. But their cases have, in many cases, been dropped now. Surprise?
Collectively, these companies doled out $960 million to lobbying and political contributions during the 2024 elections alone.
These companies currently have “a stunningly wide array of interests before the federal government—from taxation to trade policy, battlefield domain awareness to telephone poles, consumer privacy to product liability rules, appropriations to cybersecurity, and much more.”*
It almost smells like “pay and play,” doesn’t it? This is capitalism at its most sour. It is Citizens United and SCOTUS at its most stupid and destructive of real democracy and real accountability.
Furthermore, “these companies are engaged in an utterly embarrassing spectacle of prostrating themselves before a wannabe dictator.” That dictator and his sycophants took a shellacking at the polls this week.
Might American democracy be rising from its slumber? Stay tuned. Stay active. Stay alert and stay involved. The power resides in the American voter and journalists and media who choose to speak truth and not lies.
* Robert Weissman, Michael Tanglis, Eileen O’Grady, Jon Golinger, Rick Claypool and Alan Zibel, “Banquet of Greed: Trump Ballroom Donors Feast on Federal Funds and Favors,” Public Citizen, November 5, 2025. All quotes hereon are from that article. See the full report HERE.
Banner Image: A blue wave of Democratic victories rose throughout the U.S. on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Photo in Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
How are you feeling about the election results this last Tuesday? Do you see some hope on the horizon for American democracy? In what ways are you contributing to the cause?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
“Warriors for Ecological and Economic Justice,” in Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Times
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation
10 thoughts on “America’s Tuesday Election: Hope on the Horizon for Democracy?”
Wow, this DM is a very pleasant and energizing breath of fresh air in the prevailing gloom! I was so excited reading it that, at first, instead of “these companies are engaged in an utterly embarrassing spectacle of prostrating themselves before a wannabe dictator,” I had read “these companies are engaged in an utterly embarrassing spectacle of prostituting themselves to a wannabe dictator.” Shame on me! How could I think for a second they would ever do that!
I’m very excited about the results from Tuesday’s elections. I feel that there has been a shift. The winds have lifted the cells of democracy, and I feel that we are on a course towards a future where all Americans are respected and given basic rights of healthcare, food, and shelter. I feel the flow of creative energy within the nation, and I am tapped into that flow, which was especially evident at the first and second no Kings demonstrations. Viewing all of these events through the lens of compassion has been an ongoing process of learning to surrender to love even in the midst of what seemed to be a dark and less than hopeful situation. There is much joy in my heart, and I think throughout the nation and knowing that people are beginning to take action and say no to the oligarchy of billionaires, and the rule of a would be king.
Personally, I never lost hope in American Democracy. People can still vote, just as they did in electing Donald Trump. Elections, like pendulums, tend to swing.
Feeling very hopeful. There’s nothing like reality to bring forth what is true. The emperor discovers he’s naked. The shales have fallen from the eyes of the beholders. Rays of light are shine thru the cracks. We arise from the nightmare slumber. We are entering a new era in time in the United States. We’ve never been tested like this before. If we are to survive (and flourish…all of us) we must find new ways of restoring balance and kindness with one another. Finally, we come to know and understand what we do to one another, we do to our selves, regardless of race, creed, money, gender, politics …This is our reality in plain sight.
I feel a real hope dawning. All the anger, judgment and despair are shifting in the light of love.
While encouraging – this is only the beginning. You have just ‘won the battle’ and not the whole war. Do not become complacent. Here in Canada I have often seen the political party in power (either federally or provincially) lose resoundingly (over some policy disagreement) during a minor by-election – Only to see a year or so later the same political party swept back into power with a decisive victory in the next general election. Sometimes the voters have short attention spans. Trump was voted back in because he never stopped campaigning against Biden and filling the populace with his lies for the whole 4 years. Your work is just beginning. Keep telling the truth. Keep showing love and caring for those hurt and damaged by Trump’s evil policies. Blessings to you all.
On another subject: My phone broke and I was about to switch from Credo to T-Mobile, which has a plan allowing me to use my phone in Europe. Since I attend retreats there, I would like to have access to a my same phone number in Europe at a reasonable price. Today, Matthew, you told me that T-Mobile is one of the key companies “donating” (sic) money to build tRump’s ballroom. I’ll choose a different phone company or stick with Credo, even though traveling in Europe with a Credo phone is really frustrating. Here’s a link to what other companies are happy to tear down half The People’s House: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-ballroom-donors-white-house-stand-to-gain/?fbclid=IwY2xjawN8PsFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeSmSazhAv-AcxBpWxXLSLX2EvzfBoV3Mp1bGgWqZW9sB2a0Qha4BXHVMKcYI_aem_LUbaMWwcIuPjvnR_LRYsuA
Great! Keeping Hope, Faith, and Prayers Alive for US Democracy, humanity, world justice, and Sacred Mother Earth with All spiritual beings/dimensions in the Spirit/Divine Flow of LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
Father Matthew, I recently listened to Joanna Cole’s podcast on the Daily Beast where she interviewed Dr. Bandy X. Lee who talked about the book she wrote entitled, “The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Danger to American Democracy And All Humankind. What Dr. Lee revealed about trump’s level of pathology is absolutely stark and terrifying. She talked about trump’s malignant narcissist personality disorder and how his symptoms spread to those around him and support him. It’s so dangerous that Dr. Lee insists that trump must be contained to keep him under control and spreading, to ensure survival of our species. I am interested to know if you have read this book and/or her other books on the danger of Trump’s presidency and what you think. Thank you for your response. I greatly admire and respect you for all that you do and I thank God for your life. God bless you unceasingly. Peace and every good.
I feel cautiously optimistic, but the MAGA cult is already at work, and has been at work, to undermine the electoral process in every way, from redistricting in states to pushing bills that would severely restrict the ability to vote for millions of people.
Is the USA the new Rome? Is Trump’s behavior a pattern repeat of a Roman Emperor?
“Of the few surviving sources about Caligula and his four-year reign, most were written by members of the nobility and senate, long after the events they purport to describe. For the early part of his reign, he is said to have been “good, generous, fair and community-spirited”[3] but increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and sexually perverted thereafter, an insane, murderous tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god, humiliated the Senate, and planned to make his horse a consul. Most modern commentaries instead seek to explain Caligula’s position, personality and historical context. Some historians dismiss many of the allegations against him as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy.” [Wikipedia]