I'm a Canadian. I'm also a Canadian intensely engaged with American politics. Much more so than my own country's politics. I have no idea what that says about me, but it's always been that way.

I'm not particularly partisan. I'm not a liberal or a conservative. And I'm not an independent who thinks "they're all bums". I believe politics is hard work and I believe good people can disagree. And not just because one is right and one is wrong, but because people can begin with different assumptions. And those assumptions are a priori and can't always be reconciled. And that's ok.

But tonight, none of that is relevant. Because tonight isn't about politics. It's about a death. Tonight we witnessed the death of what's essentially a religious conviction. And that religious conviction is the goodness of the American people. It's easy to scoff at this as something naive and silly. Many do and many will. But as an outsider, I've seen that many Americans have always believed it in their bones. They've believed it in a way that Canadians do not believe it about their own nation. It's been the heart of American politics—to create a government as good as the American people.

That died tonight. And it's been replaced with something else. With another idea. With "Trump". "Trump" has become the term not for the goodness of the American people but for the anger and hatred and resentment of the American people. "Trump" has become the attack made on those that disagree with you. "Trump" has become the word that racists yell when they call you a nigger. "Trump" has become the word xenophobes use to support their wanting you deported. "Trump" has become the word that bigots use to weaponize their fear of your Muslim faith. "Trump" has become the hammer which one segment of the population has taken to a society that was changing in ways they didn't like. "Trump" is the opposite of empathy, the opposite of kindness, the opposite of goodness. "Trump" is revenge. And tonight America voted for revenge. For revenge and anger and hatred and fear. For Trump and Trumpism. And with that, tonight America has smashed to pieces any argument for the goodness of the American people. And as a Canadian and as someone who has always admired America despite not being an American, that's a tragedy that brings me to tears.