Anyone who has lived in the country understands the brutality of nature. Animals kill to survive and fight to the death. A cornered animal experiences a surge of sudden ferocity. During its final minutes, when the animal knows it’s going to die, it will emit a specific sound, a warning to others of the same species. That sound is known as a death cry. I believe we are hearing the death cry of the G.O.P. in its current incarnation: racist obstructionists who welcomed the squalid alt-right into their midst and failed to produce a credible nominee for president. They had their chance, and blew it. They dismantled unions, systematically attacked education, and ignored the separation of church and state. They gave corporations the same rights as people while trampling the rights of actual human beings. Unlike other animals, which know the death cry as a warning, too many Americans are responding with a sense of outraged empowerment. —Chris Offutt