“Devastated Democrats Play the Blame Game, and Stare at a Dark Future” was how a November 7 piece in the Times put it, capturing a whole mini-genre of hot takes that appeared right after the election about Democrats “reckoning” with their catastrophic loss. Those articles have since been replaced by a cascade of “Where Are the Democrats?” pieces. But it turns out the Democrats are still devastated, still blaming, and still staring at a dark future. I, too, have been devastated, blaming, and staring. I admit, I have been looking back at those initial post-election pieces, in a kind of listless final search for this alleged Democratic reckoning. (A reckoning with what, exactly? The party’s failure to mobilize voters this fall? Its lack of any sort of vision for the future? Its five-decade embrace of neoliberal policymaking and its rule by the rich? Capitalism itself?) I have not found any such reckonings.…