Gobsmacked....

Well, the election results have me sitting, shaking my head. I have been struggling with this all evening, and I guess the thought I'm going to take to bed is this.

Some people are comforting themselves by thinking of the parts of this that are still undone, and the various ways to fight the results, hoping to somehow wake up from this bad dream. Even if it works and by some miracle the results are changed, that's not the point here. The fact that it was even close is the actual issue.

I wish I was surprised. I wish I hadn't spent my career and my life seeing and fighting against the kinds of personal actions and attitudes that add up to numbers like this. I wish I could see this as anything more than a crushing blow.

I hope this is a wake-up call. That those who minimized and marginalized these actions and attitudes will finally see that this is the reality out there. These things really happen, all the time, to a lot of people. And I hope they finally come to the the conclusion that, damn it, we all need to do something about it.

This country fought it's way back from McCarthy. We fought our way through the Civil Rights years. It's not irreparable. Not if we get off our duffs and get to work.

And for now, I'm going to go to bed, cuddle my dog, and try to get ready to face tomorrow morning.