It might sound silly, but the one thing that broke me the most yesterday:
When I heard news that the plane that had been designated Air Force One and had flown Trump to Florida was en route and returning back to DC.
For some reason, it reaffirmed what the Presidency--and this country--stood for.
The thing was, Donald Trump always thought he was bigger than the Presidency itself. To him, it served one purpose only: to give him a claim to ultimate and never-ending power, glory and attention. However, the nitty gritties of the job that his predecessors and now successor have had to grapple with--the checks and the balances, the constitutional constraints, the unflattering burdens of the office--that was always beneath him.
He could have as well called himself Emperor, and no doubt would have if he could. And have at his disposal all those powerful glories at his hand for an indefinite amount of time, without regard to the popular will of the people or whatever concerned them.
Powerful glories that included a 747 jumbo jet at his beck and call, with the name of our country emblazoned on its side, and its fuel and maintenance paid for at our taxpayer expense.
I had actually seen Air Force One once before a year or two back, parked on the tarmac at the West Palm Beach airport. My kids were in the car with me, and under normal circumstances I would have happily pointed it out them as an exciting moment. But the thought of the man who used it and called himself the President disgusted me so much that I simply drove on by without comment.
He would have loved to have had that plane for life. And the bloody events at the Capitol two weeks prior were intended to make that come to pass.
But thank God, it failed.
And thank God, we live in a nation of law, with a President and not an Emperor.
So when I heard news that the plane that had carried Trump to his residence was returning back to the Nation's Capital, it really hit me deep.
Because no matter what Donald Trump thinks, no man or woman will ever be greater than the Presidency. The Presidency--and its office, and both its perks and solemn responsibilities--will always be greater than one person. And so that plane was leaving Donald Trump behind, alone and without further power, and returning to serve President Biden during his time in office.
On the morning of November 9, 2016, I truly and honestly thought we were going to lose our democracy and our country. I truly expected the man ascending to the office to seize the reigns of power for himself and end our republic as we knew it.
And in the four years that followed, we very nearly did lose it.
But somehow, by luck or Divine Providence, we did not. And knowing Donald Trump had been left behind as our country carried forward absolutely hit me on a heavy emotional level.
(The irony is that I live a mere half hour away from where he now sits and stews in oblivion, behind the gilded walls of Mar a Lago. And yet all the same, I haven't felt further away from him as I do now that he no longer has his grasp around our collective necks.)
The idea that we as a country have suffered a mass traumatic experience from the past four years might sound laughable. But it's absolutely true. And like individual victims of traumatic experiences, only now that the danger has passed are we going to start to emotionally absorb what we had just gone through, and process all the horrors.
And let us not mince words; they were truly horrors indeed.
And the idea that we survived, that the danger--at least the immediate danger--has passed, is both a relief but also an emotional bombshell that leaves us shaking. Think of Tom Hanks' portrayal of the title character in Captain Phillips; in the end, after his rescue he collapses into a quivering wreck even as a nurse assures him, "You're safe now."
But we survived.
And our plane, leaving the most disgraced person to ever hold the Office in its wake, has come back home to us.
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Well done!
We are all leaving Donald Trump alone and without further power (just like the plane as it turned back to our Capital) as we look forward to repairing our democracy, country, government, and reputation even though it is going to be quite a process.
...and close to what I felt about The Beast. I hated thinking of that asshole riding in "our" limo. Though The Beast has mutated and been replaced, it's still OUR CAR and a damned sexy one. I hope I live to see the day when its successor is electric. 
Well...it's over...it's really over. It has a new license plate: "46" 
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a23397702/donald-trump-presidential-cadillac-limo-beast/
but WE are not paying for it - and they probably won't be there much longer when they realize he's not gonna' be able to afford to pay them (coming legal fees, you know!)!
Former presidents have a different protective detail than current presidents. Presidents are guarded by agents from the Presidential Protection Detail. Former presidents are guarded by a different - and much smaller - group of agents.
At noon, Trump's PPD agents signed off and handed him over to the agents of the Former Presidents Detail. And, if past practice is any guide, they likely boarded the former AF1 to "deadhead" back to DC with other staff (including the milaide and WH physician) and crew no longer assigned to Trump.
So, you may have gotten your wish, after all. 
I don't know for sure, but since it's a distinct possibility, I'm definitely going with that!
but to watch him "jump" every time the phone rings or there's a knock on the door...........
THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU, DONNIE!!!!!!!
I understand where you are coming from and can only wish you the best - somehow he should have to pay for what he has done to all.
I hope you can find peace knowing that it was him - and HE was wrong.
PEACE..... 
