The End of the Elections Monster

Could a monster-themed elections analysis end with anything else than a monster who helps destroy the world?

The monsters in this column have all been metaphorical, summoning creatures as horrible as this election has made people feel. But where figurative language leaves off, eschatological conspiracy thinkers step in. There are a significant number of people who believe that Hillary Clinton is the Whore of Babylon. The monster they have in mind is not a trope, but an actual queen-witch, straddling a tangible seven-headed, ten-horned beast quite literally. Some right-wing thinkers have a better view of Clinton: they don't think she is the devil, just his willing servant. And from the way that a lot of angelic leftists talk about her neo-liberal track record, they might even agree.

Maybe Jessa Crispin is right when she says the Whore of Babylon is actually someone many of us could look up to.

That doesn't immediately sound like Hillary. She lacks the street cred to be truly down with all the cool deviance and sexy abomination that the Babylonian lady lays claim to. But for end-time fanatics a woman running for president is perfect for the role: the ultimate allegory of sex, political power, and dragon-riding. Call it an endorsement. It places this election right in the thick of the last battle, a feeling which, even if you don't have any religious beliefs, seems like a frighteningly real possibility right about now.

Whatever news breaks on Tuesday night, it won't be the end of the world for us. Wednesday is another morning, then Thursday, and before you know it's 2020 and we get to do this all over again. The election is more like rebooting a horror movie franchise than an Apocalypse that way. The monster comes back, even after you think that it's dead.

[Top image: Die Hure Babylon from the Ottheinrich-Bibel by Matthias Gerung [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.]