Two Things

1. This piece in the Atlantic by Chimamanda Adichie is so, so good: "Why Is Hillary Clinton So Widely Loved?"

We do not see, often enough, the people who love Hillary Clinton, who support her because of her qualifications rather than because of her unqualified opponent, who empathize with her. Yet millions of Americans, women and men, love her intelligence, her industriousness, her grit; they feel loyal to her, they will vote with enthusiasm for her.

...There are millions of Americans who do not have the self-indulgent expectation that a politician be perfect. They are frustrated that Hillary Clinton is allowed no complexity. And they love her.

I want to wrap my arms around this piece and give it a big squeezy hug.

On the other end of the spectrum, however...

2. This piece in the Guardian by Spencer Ackerman is chilling: "'The FBI Is Trumpland': Anti-Clinton Atmosphere Spurred Leaks, Sources Say."

Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election.

Current and former FBI officials, none of whom were willing or cleared to speak on the record, have described a chaotic internal climate that resulted from outrage over director James Comey's July decision not to recommend an indictment over Clinton's maintenance of a private email server on which classified information transited.

"The FBI is Trumpland," said one current agent. ...The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is "the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel," and that "the reason why they're leaking is they're pro-Trump."

...At the same time, other sources dispute the depth of support for Trump within the bureau, though they uniformly stated that Clinton is viewed highly unfavorably.

There is a lot of deeply worrying shit in that piece, but this struck me as particularly concerning: "Justice department officials — another current target of FBI dissatisfaction..." I'm sorry, what? The Justice Department is a "target of FBI dissatisfaction"? That is...not good. Shiver.

There is just a huge part of our federal government comprised of people who are deeply illiberal and willing to force a Constitutional crisis over their refusal to abide the democratic choice of a majority in filling the Executive Branch. It has long been a problem to one extent or another, but has intensified exponentially with the election of our first Black president, and looks like it will do the same once more if we elect our first female president.

If Hillary Clinton is elected, she is going to facing a hell of a fight. And so are we. She's ready for it, and I hope all of us who support her are ready for it, too.