Politics in Texas still sucks, but the sun is still shining — the Wild Texas Newsletter

Welcome to the Wild Texas newsletter. I’m Olivia, the editor-in-chief of The Barbed Wire. 

Yesterday, many of us were devastated by the results of Tuesday’s election. Not just because Trump won. But because he won despite so many urgent stories from women who’ve shared their perilous experiences of tragedy and bloodshed. By the intensity of the margins, and what it implies about American voters: that they don’t care if those of us with uteruses die. A New York Times analysis showed that, of the counties with nearly complete results, more than 90% shifted in favor of Trump, including among historically blue counties. The former (and now future) president improved on his 2020 margin in more than 2,000 counties. I felt almost embarrassed by how much I believed other people would care about racism, women’s bodily autonomy, the rising tides of fascism, and the plethora of alarms sounded by members of Trump’s previous administration.

While wallowing, I got some solace from Joan Didion. 

“It takes an act of will to live in the world,” Didion told students at UC Riverside in a 1975 commencement address. “And that’s not easy. It takes work. You have to keep stripping yourself down, examining everything you see, getting rid of whatever is blinding you. And sometimes when you get rid of what’s blinding you, you get your eyes opened, you don’t like what you see at all. And that’s the risk.”

This is the fundamental purpose of fearless, independent journalism like we make at The Barbed Wire. Bearing witness — to the reality of lived experiences, to the consequences of injustice — and shining a spotlight that thrusts accountability onto those in power is the whole thing. That’s why we have the fourth estate in the first place: to help ensure that democracy survives, no matter who is in charge.

It’s much easier to look away. But to avoid reality from the inside of our ideological bubbles is to be vulnerable, continued Didion: “It’s dangerous to the society, it’s dangerous to your own soul, and sometimes it’s even physically dangerous. When you walk around blind long enough, someday you’re going to fall off that precipice.”

As usual, Didion was correct. Many of us who were trying our damndest to pay attention still fell off a precipice last night. We hoped that the world was one thing — and actually, it’s something totally different. Many of us are still grieving that hope and dreading our new future. We’re trying to weigh the threats, promises, and fears from the campaign — like when Trump said he might use the military on his political adversaries or when RFK Jr. mentioned decimating vaccines — against what our lives and bodily autonomy and freedoms might look like in the next few months.

I’m afraid for many of us. To be frank, I was also hoping that I might someday be able to have children in Texas without fearing a miscarriage could end my life. I’m used to working through fear, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. And then, as I hit the wall of despair on Wednesday, I looked around online and found a spark of hope.

My kind friend and former colleague Ben Collins, now-CEO of The Onion, posted: “I looked up and for the first time in my life I thought, ‘There’s no one left to look to. It's just us.’ So I am shocked at how I feel: furious, clear-eyed, galvanized. We were right from the very beginning about the fascism the smug told us was an overreaction, and we're still right now. For better or worse, it's our time to lead.” He added, “All I'm saying is, the baton is just fucking sitting there. You should at least be a little interested in picking it up.”

On Wednesday, I gave myself time to grieve. But moving forward: Here’s to picking up the baton.

As our publisher Jeff Rotkoff said, I hope some of you will consider turning your newsletter subscriptions into memberships this week. 

And while we’re talking about disappointment, senior editor Brian Gaar wrote a fabulously cathartic roast of Sen. Ted Cruz that I’ve been quoting for the past 24 hours. It channeled some of the anger I was too tired to articulate in my own head on Wednesday: “He’s such a black hole of social graces that even the most homeschooled kid would want to give him a swirly. He probably wore a tie to school in pre-K. He probably reminded the teacher they forgot to give a quiz and even the teacher was annoyed. He’s the friend who stabs you in the back and neither of you are surprised. He looks like the human embodiment of snitching. He could play Schadenfreude in ‘Inside Out 3.’” There’s plenty more below.

We Live in Hell: Ted Cruz Still Represents Us

Despite another high-profile election where more than $160 million was raised, Cruz prevailed over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. Because nothing good ever happens.

By Brian Gaar

Brian also wrote about the same feelings of helplessness and hope with which we’re all grappling, in a thoughtful essay set amidst the remnants of an election party that turned, well, funerial.

And — in a piece that feels even more important today than it did when it was published on Monday — state Rep. Rafael Anchía and CEO Debbie Cox Bultan published an op-ed — our first-ever at The Barbed Wire:

Hang in there, friends ❤️

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