Say what you will about Michael Bloomberg, but you can’t call him a bad investor. What could be more brilliant than spending $500 million on a presidential primary only to net yourself 44 delegates? In contrast, Thomas Jefferson got the entire Louisiana Purchase for about $309 million, though given the number of gauche smokers and farmers that brought in, it probably wasn’t much of a steal. Is there any historical precedent for Bloomberg’s legendarily awful returns? Even Geraldo’s time against what he ultimately found in the vault seems to pale in comparison.

Bloomberg, the evil brother of the talking paper clip from Microsoft Word, jumped into the Democratic primary with a slogan: vote for me because I have more money. He leaves because voters had the audacity to demand other things: ideas, humanity, explanations for his previous wretched behavior. That’s not to say we’ve seen the last of him, of course. Politico reports this morning that Bloomberg will likely remain a political force because of his wealth, which it says is 2020’s “equivalent of nuclear weapons.” That makes him the littlest general, sitting atop his tank with an Army helmet on his head, waving to the liberated peoples of American Samoa whom he only won because he was literally the only major candidate who showed up.

The problem is that Bloomberg failed to intimidate anybody. The other Democrats made that clear during his first debate, when they systematically demolished him. And while rich men in America are more often revered than shaken down, I choose to view this as an occasion for national pride. Look at it this way: an aspiring tyrant tried to buy a presidential election, only to be compelled onto a debate stage with his peers who, shielded by the First Amendment, viciously upbraided him in spite of his class. If that can still happen, it may be that there’s some spirit left in ’76 yet. I never thought Elizabeth Warren would make me proud to be an American, but we live in nothing if not strange times.

This is a moment for jubilation. Throngs should be emptying into the streets, cheering and waving lit cigarettes and Big Gulps. Israelis should be embracing Palestinians; dogs should be licking mailmen. The message should go out: American politics in the 21st century might be cynical—but it isn’t quite Bloomberg cynical.