WASHINGTON D.C. — I woke up on Election Day wearing fuzzy feline headgear. My brown tabby, Joey, had wrapped his paws around my head and was purring in my ear as I remembered my plan to go to Washington D.C. to attend the watch party at Howard University for Vice President Kamala Harris. But with a cat draped across my skull, my mind drifted to a previous trip I'd made to D.C. in January 2017, when I covered the Women's March to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. That day had been the one bright spot amid the years of MAGA hell, witnessing hundreds of thousands of people streaming in every direction, vowing to resist the fascist urges of a man who had bragged about sexually assaulting women. The symbol of the day: the ubiquitous p***y hats, cheerful pink knitted confections worn by women reclaiming control over a body part that Trump memorably boasted about grabbing against his victims' wills.

It looks now like my sweet cat was an ominous omen. With Trump's win, it's time for women to dig those hats out of storage, grab their "resistance" wine glasses, and get back to work. Trump's victory came at the hands of a majority of male voters, while most women once again turned out hoping to stop him. It will be up to women, again, to save America from this glowering fascist menace.

In 2017, the pink cat ears atop the Women's Marchers were often accompanied by signs adorned with angry cats declaring "p***y grabs back." Eight long years later, the common housecat continued to symbolize female resistance. Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, complained extensively of "cat ladies," a favorite MAGA insult for independent women. However, women, including pop star Taylor Swift, wore the term like a badge of honor, pointing out, correctly, that thinking for yourself is a point of pride.

Even in defeat, we must be grateful to Harris for a tremendous job embodying a different vision: one in which Americans can be kind, cooperative, and, yes, joyful.

Spirits were high at Howard around 9 p.m. as the event filled up. Students decked out in university gear or their Greek letters crowded in. As hip-hop blared over the speakers, groups of women gleefully line-danced to Ciara and Missy Elliot tunes under giant American flags. By 10, the mood was flagging, as it became clear that, once again, American voters were showing themselves unable to make the correct and obvious choice between a good-hearted, competent........

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