I – like tens of millions of Americans – longed for a repudiation of Donald Trump and the Republican Party…for a decade. Last Tuesday, that wish came true.

But unless you have lived a long – often tortuous – life in the middle of U.S. politics…you have no idea of the monumental change Tuesday’s results wrought. This election is to authoritarian rule in the U.S. what the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago was to dinosaurs. It marks an end.

The Trump Administration stands as the single most corrupt, incompetent, cruel and dangerous governing body in America in its 250-year history. Make no mistake, the overwhelming rebuke of Trump’s Make America Great Again cult – as bad as it is – was not an inevitability.

Democracy is something too many Americans have taken for granted. That’s how authoritarian personalities rise to undermine the rights and freedoms…not just of Americans, but of people and democracies everywhere.

I have voted in every election for the past 58 years…even while serving in the U.S. Air Force half way around the world. Millions of my fellow Americans have done the same. We know that democracy is something citizens must work at to ensure that everyone is served fairly…that no one slips between the cracks because of their race, their religion or beliefs, or whether or not they were born on the “wrong” side of the tracks.

A woman, Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin as he emerged from the Continental Congress on Sept. 17, 1787, what kind of government the delegates had created…whether America was a republic or a monarchy.

He said, simply, “A republic, if we can keep it.” Franklin was wise…and though he didn’t know Donald Trump would come along…he did know that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I lived and worked in Washington, D.C. two different times – six years in the 1970s and again in the 1980s. Most mornings, I walked from my house on Capitol Hill to my office on F Street, a couple blocks from The White House.

I would walk down South Capitol Street, take the steps up the East side of the Capitol, walk through the Rotunda and down the steps on the western side toward the Washington monument and the reflecting pool…and on to my office.

I enjoyed the walk…it was the chance to live history. Security was almost non-existent back then…and I would see Senators and House members almost every day as we went to work.

I said “Good morning” countless times to Democrats and Republicans…Sen. Ted Kennedy, Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil, Sen. Howard Baker, Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, Sen. Ed Muskie, among others. On occasion, I would even stop and talk with them about issues of the day.

I spent one or two afternoons every month attending House and Senate hearings…learning how government worked or didn’t. I considered it an advanced degree in political science…it made me a more informed citizen…a better American.

So, what does Tuesday’s vote mean? Will things be different…and, if so, how?

Maybe, whether you’re American or Canadian, you thought the U.S. was on life-support…a lost cause. It looked bleak, I admit. But these days are not unique in American history…they are simply the ones we have lived.

As a nation, we have survived a revolution that led to our founding, an horrendous civil war, two catastrophic world wars, a decade-long Great Depression and long-denied freedom and equality for women, people of color and immigrants. Some of those struggles are ongoing. So, we can do this…overcome a elected politicians who want to end democracy.

The road to Democracy has more twists and turns than any highway most of us have ever travelled. It zigs and zags toward the admirable goal of a more perfect union. But there are not shortcuts.

Donald Trump and Republicans – who either supported his corrupt agenda or stood by and let it happen simply to keep their jobs – are political dinosaurs. They are either dead and gone from last Tuesday’s initial Democratic asteroid impact…or will now suffer a painful two-year withering death.

These opinions are not fanciful ramblings of a life-long Democrat…they are based on facts…truths.

In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and hold 54 to the Republican Party’s 44. Two seats – Mississippi and Alaska – remain undeclared, with both leaning Democrat.

In the House, Democrats hold 255 seats to the GOP’s 162 as of Nov. 8, comfortably passing the majority threshold of 218, with 18 races yet to be called. Democrats could gain five more of those seats.

But to fully appreciate what happened this election, consider Georgia, where eight Black women won statewide offices.

Keisha Lance Bottoms became not only Georgia’s first Black woman governor…she is the first in all 50 states in 250 years. She’s from Crawfordsville, GA, a small town a little less than a hundred miles and two hours from the state capitol in Atlanta.

For Bottoms, the trip from Crawfordsville to Atlanta took 166 years and the distance might as well have been from Crawfordsville to the Moon for most of that time. Her Great-Great-Grandfather was a slave, bought for $1,400.

Before Bottoms, Crawfordsville’s most famous resident was Alexander H. Stephens, a one-time Georgia governor and senator, and the vice-president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

You have to wonder how long it will take Crawfordsville to celebrate Bottoms as it does Stephens. His home – ironically named Liberty Hall – is the town’s number one tourist attraction. The front yard is home to Stephens’ grave site…and countless Rebel flags. Ignorance often dies a hard death…and no more so than those who celebrate those who turned against America.

Perhaps the most amazing result of this election is the fact that Trump and Republicans gerrymandered seven states and so pissed-off voters that Republicans flipped just two of the 15 they schemed to win.

The other amazing fact is that corporations and people of Elon Musk’s ilk – who personally wasted a half-billion dollars – spent more than $2 Billion…all for nothing. The vote is a powerful thing…and even though Republicans in most Red states did everything they could to gerrymander and suppress the voting of Democrats – especially people of color and students – it all blew up in their faces.

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico crushed Republican Ken Paxton to become a new Senator. Democrat Gina Hinojosa became Governor, dismissing Republican Greg Abbott.

Democrats in Texas also flipped the offices of the Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner, Agriculture Department and Lt. Governor. Sen. Ted Cruz – easily the most hated man in the Senate among Republicans and Democrats – has just two years to retire…or get ushered out of office in what might be the most lopsided vote ever in Texas.

It was an historic election for Native Americans, as well, with Peggy Flanagan becoming a Senator in Minnesota, and though it hasn’t been called officially, Mary Peltola, an Alaskan Native American, is the likely new Senator from Alaska.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim American to serve in the U.S. Senate, beating Republican Mike Rogers soundly. Rogers and Republicans, including Trump, fully showed their Islamophobia, calling El-Sayed a “terrorist” and a “Jihadist”, among other epithets. Voters said “No” to Republican hatred and lies.

Southern Baptist congregations are already posting that Muslims are taking over the U.S. Should we have expected anything less?

Chris Pappas, a Democrat from New Hampshire, became that state’s first openly-gay Senator. Wes Moore, the Democrat Governor of Maryland was re-elected. In fact, Democrats now hold the Governor slot in 36 of the 50 states.

The importance of that margin…the governors can change or eliminate the Electoral College…an antiquated way of interpreting votes rather than simply counting individual votes…with the most winning….as is the case with every other elected office in America.

Also, Democrats made significant gains down-ballot…electing candidates in countless local and county-wide races across America.

Democrats have to deliver…and I believe they will…proposing bills that speak to what Americans want most…affordability, an end to the war with Iran, support for Ukraine rather than Russia, an end to illegal ICE actions, a sensible immigration plan, affordable healthcare, the right for women to control their health, fair taxation…and ending countless cruel actions by Republicans.

Republicans who don’t support Democratic initiatives…will be called out and will be blamed, losing in two years. If Trump vetoes bills, he’ll either be overridden…only about four votes will be needed in the Senate…or suffer the continuing wrath of Americans.

Are Republicans and Trump smart enough to not double-down? No, I don’t think so. This past weekend Stephen Miller – America’s closest thing to a Nazi in power – was named White House Chief of Staff.

That said, the last dinosaurs have a little less than two years left.

— Don Thompson lives in Vernon and in Florida. Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. His essays are a blend of news reporting and opinion.