So what kind of country are we now?

The shock is palpable.

The fact that Donald Trump is once again the president-elect of the United States, and will take office again next January, is nothing short of stunning.

What part of “this man is dangerous” didn’t many Americans understand about the convicted felon they’ve just re-elected to power? A man who has no respect for women, for people of color, for the truth.

In many ways, I’m glad I’m a 68 year-old man in poor health, so I’m not looking forward to much. The future does not look bright at all for young people under this man. Indeed, democracy is gagged and bound to the railroad tracks with this guy.

Give Trump credit, he knows how to read a room though. His instincts told him that most Americans care more about themselves before ever considering the future of their country. Trump pegged it right believing that life for many Americans is so raw, they’d rather hold someone else responsible for their problems. That speaks to an absurd sense of entitlement, that there are those who don’t deserve the blessings of citizenship because they weren’t born here. Never mind what freedom traditionally meant across our fruited plain, that those who come here willing to work hard and honestly build a life, deserve our respect and welcome.

No, in Trump’s America, they get accused of “eating the cats and eating the dogs.” In Trump’s America, they are royally disrespected by being told that they come from “a pile of garbage.”

And if they’re female, and dare to speak up, stand up, or step out of place, they get called “dumb,” “retarded,” or “trash.”

This is Trump’s America now, where those who voted for the man apparently believe he can indeed stop entrenched wars and bloodshed in one day, or fix the economy with nothing but a phone call. A man whose “infinite wisdom” made him destined to rule, because he has no intention of sharing power with Congress or the courts.

A man who, now more than ever, sees himself above the law that the rest of us cherish and must abide by.

The majority of American voters elected a television star to lead them once again, instead of a principled public servant, who happened to be an accomplished woman of color, who was the embodiment of the American dream, and promised to lead the rebuilding of this country, and had the gall to see a nation that could march into the future together.

The fact that once again, Americans rejected the inspiring leadership of a great woman, is sickening. 

One good thing closer to home did come out of this election though - Mark Robinson, our loudmouth lieutenant governor, can go back to being a loudmouth private citizen again after Democrat Josh Stein handed him his backside in the race for governor.

History will never forget how Robinson, once the hottest thing in conservative politics, became the political pariah for almost every Republican candidate running for something. Even though the man couldn’t afford to be on TV after that explosive “Black Nazi” CNN report came out, Democrats were more than happy to put him in their campaign commercials to use against their Republican opponents hoping he would scare the hell out of women voters with his anti-abortion rants.

So unless, the MAGA movement feels Mark Robinson still has some currency in politics worth investing in, his days as a feared cultural warrior are over beyond the sticks of North Carolina’s redneck counties.

I hope.

But make no mistake, beyond Stein’s commanding victory, I was not that pleased with North Carolina’s election results. I so much wanted State Auditor Jessica Holmes, a decent human being,  to win the office she’s ably managed since Gov. Cooper appointed her to it last December. Holmes had very little money, and certainly couldn’t afford to campaign on television like her Republican opponent, Dave “I hate DEI” Boliek. Instead, she worked hard to win across the state, but in the end, fell short.

I am grateful that, according to unofficial results, our next superintendent of Public Instruction won’t be someone who wants to see Pres. Barack Obama executed by firing squad on pay-per-view TV. Nor will our next state attorney general be someone who sponsored a so-called “bathroom bill” that discriminated against citizens because of their sexual orientation.

But back to the world according to Trump….I’m not ready for it. Never will be. That monster played games with a deadly disease which led to the deaths of 1 million of my fellow citizens when he was first elected. He demeaned people of color in his rhetoric and actions. And he disrespected women and punished them for wanting their reproductive rights.

As I said, I am stunned. And when it becomes clear that this cruel clown has been lying about everything he has promised to make our lives better, all I will be able to do is just shake my head, and wonder why more folks could not have figured that out sooner.

I get it. The Democratic Party has serious work to do. It needs to stop being perceived as elitist; needs to stand up stronger for the working man and woman; needs to get tougher and mean it about important policies that improve the quality of American life.

One can reasonably argue that when rural folks, Black and Hispanic men, and working class white women allow themselves to be wooed by a criminal shyster of all things, we’ve fallen so low, it’s hard to look up.

What could have happened if my country just had the guts to elect a woman leader who was willing to see us as Americans, and not suckers, losers or piles of garbage?

Good things, I imagine, good things that would have made all of our children proud.

But Kamala said it best in defeat - “The light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up fighting!”