There were winners and losers in the midterm elections. First, let us consider the Losers whom I name in no particular order.
Elon Musk.
The gerrymandering officeholders who thought it their prerogative to mess with voting laws (enabled by SCOTUS).
SCOTUS and its Evil gutting of voting rights laws purchased by the blood, sweat, tears, and struggle of the civil rights movement, AND the martyrdom of many, including its leader, MLK Jr.
SCOTUS and its belief that men have the right to control women’s bodies.
ICE. And all those who think it’s fine and dandy for a president to send his own personal militia (paid by American taxpayers) into the streets of American cities (and towns) and make war against its citizens and its aspiring citizens.
Cruelty lost.
All Republican congressmembers who voted $70 billion to privatize the above army-against-Americans.
Bullies lost.
Pedophile protectors lost. Remember the Epstein Files?
Peter Thiel and other billionaires whose wet dream is that climate change advances rapidly, kills billions, and creates such chaos that they can buy up the world cheaply and run it in their image.
Big Tech.
All the legal firms, universities, and corporations who knelt to MAGA, thus proving to the world that many powerful workplaces in American culture are utterly without conscience.
AI Data Centers.
Those congresspeople and pundits who think nothing of destroying SNAP aid for poor families, and Medicare and Medicaid for Americans’ health.
Haters of Social Security.
Fox News. And other propaganda outlets masquerading as news outlets.
Cynics and nihilists who are too wounded and afraid to look inside and see their needs in order to cease projecting onto others.
The private prisons and their shareholders getting rich by erecting countless concentration camps to house asylum seekers and wannabe citizens without any trial or basic rights.
Capitalism with no boundaries.
Fascism lost.
So-called “Christian nationalists” lost.
Rabid right-wing christofascists who, whether from the evangelical wing of Protestantism or the Opus Dei wing of Roman Catholicism, were elevated over 34 years by two corrupt papacies. And that birthed a nest for Leonard Leo, who almost single-handedly chose the six right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court.
See Gareth Gore, Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Tragedy & Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. The Vatican changed the rules on canonization to rush through the “sainthood” of Opus Dei founder, fascist Spanish priest Jose Maria Escriva in record time. It forbade any “devil’s advocate” or members of the “order” to tell the truth about his sexism, misogyny, and control compulsions.
Opus Dei influenced MAGA influencers like Steve Bannon, Newt Gingrich, and Russell Vought, architect of Project 2025, now serving as budget director. To his credit, Bishop Marc Cummins of the Oakland diocese, a very pastoral bishop, had a simple rule in his diocese back when I was a priest there: No Opus Dei were allowed in.
J.D. Vance lost.
Racists lost.
Netanyahu.
Putin.
People who hate immigrants lost, including many who are immigrants or are married to immigrants (Thiel and Musk and Trump among others).
The Antichrist, archetype of Evil, lost. Temporarily.
And now, let us consider some Winners:
We the people and those committed to building a democracy that works of, by and for the people.
Politicians and citizens with a conscience still intact.
The young and future generations won.
Our sacred Mother Earth won.
Those eager to undertake the noble vocation of public service and politics and bring integrity to it again won.
Those choosing to listen to the people and not just to billionaires and CEOs of corporations.
Politicians with a conscience.
Latinos whose families were devastated by ICE.
Trans people.
Decency or the potential for decency.
Truth and the potential for truth.
Caring for the least among us.
Justice or the potential for justice.
Vision for an embattled species.
Hope.
Character. It matters.
Banner Image: The blue planet, our home, possibly getting another chance: Earthrise, taken December 24, 1968 by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders (photo property of NASA.gov)
Queries for Contemplation
How do these winners and losers strike you? Who else do you think lost in this week’s historic elections? What additional winners do you recognize from the same elections?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: Recognizing the Archetype of Evil in Our Time
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
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6 thoughts on “Winners & Losers from the Midterm Election”
Breakthrough:
Wo/man S/he Fe/male……………
The Black Madonna waiting in the wings comes center stage supported by deep soul men
I am grateful for the new injection of hope the entire world experienced on November 3 and I share the jubilation for the results of this election, but my standard to determine winners and losers in human affairs remains George Orwell’s Animal Farm. I will therefore take the risk of sounding like a killjoy and wait a bit longer to see if the “Four legs good” of 2026 remains valid in the coming years or if it changes into “Two legs better.” Democracy is a demanding commitment that goes far beyond casting a ballot. I am nevertheless grateful to all who did.
I loved the enclosed YouTube video of Lawrence O’Donnell sharing the personal stories and emotions of some of the Democratic winners’ speeches from Tuesday’s US elections. They were very touching, inspirational, and hopeful about the resurgence of spiritual democracy in the US and around the world.
Your list is extensive and very well considered, Matthew. There’s little I would add save to say, and dare I say, that Wrong lost, and that Righteousness won.
Winners:
Greenland and Canada won.
Trump’s rape victims, including E. Jean Carroll, won.
Our national parks won.
No Kings and my local Prescott Indivisible group won.
People with college degrees won.
Green energy won.
The Paris Agreement won.
Dreamers won.
Qualified (but fired) heads of the military won.
Past officials whose security details were revoked won.
Jack Smith, Mark Kelly, Letitia James, James Comey, Cassidy Hutchinson, Ilhan Omar, Jerome Powell, Adam Schiff, Gavin Newsom, Joe Biden, Tim Walz and all the other people against whom the DOJ and the House of Representatives began or tried to begin investigations won.
Adam Kinsinger and Liz Cheney won.
Losers:
Huge campaign donations lost.
DOGE lost.
Big oil lost.
The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers lost.
Lawyers who colluded with Trump and ICE agents lost.
Ghislaine Maxwell lost.
I am beyond happy with the infusion of hope, love, and light from this election, and what’s happening in some other countries as well. However – the proof is in the pudding. It remains to be seen if newly elected folks do what’s needed to bring about real change. I remain cautiously optimistic, because that’s the outcome I want. But – I’ve seen too many cases where democrats just coast along and don’t really take a stand and make things happen. We may just slide back into complacency and enable an even worse fascist to come into power in a few years. I hope I’m wrong. Sorry to be a buzz kill.
In my mind, this continues to be about our collective choices. We made some good ones! We need to make many more. Voting is only the first step.