What Fresh Hell is This -- Agonizing Through The Election

I've run out of Pepto-Bismol. As I write this the election still hasn't been called. It's been about sixty hours since the last polls closed. It looks promising though and it could be sometime later this morning that we get official word from Pennsylvania. A win there would put Biden over the top. Also any two of Georgia, Arizona and Nevada would do it and Biden leads in all three of those states. But the wait has been agonizing, excruciating and nerve-wrecking.

The notion of another four years of Trumpy sickens the soul. It would have been intolerable to have that man dominating our news and culture for an extra week, let alone four years. I've come to realize in the last few weeks how draining it has been to deal with this farce of a human being and his constant lies, exaggerations, mocking of his office, incivility, incompetence and narcissism. 

Election night was a crushing blow because I'd spent the last few years looking forward to the day he was thrashed at the polls Herbert Hoover-style. I'd become convinced of a Biden landslide and a thorough repudiation of Trumpy's mangling of the executive branch. I was -- as the Brits would say -- gutted that Ohio and Florida went to Trump and disappointed that Texas and Iowa joined them. It was also shocking to see how close the race was in other states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and those yet to be determined.

Are Americans really that stupid? Are there really that many racists in this country? Have millions of America really been taken in by this shyster or have they not paid any attention at all to what's been coming out of his mouth? 

The question has often been posited as to whether you have to be a racist to support Trumpy. I used to reject that notion outright but have reluctantly come to embrace it in the last year. It's impossible to hear the words that come out of the great bloviator's mouth and not understand that he is a bigot and therefore in endorsing him you are endorsing bigotry. Is the United States really -- to lightly paraphrase Hilary Clinton's infamous line -- so full of deplorables?

Evidently.

Starting with Election Day I've been even more of a mess than usual. The simple act of reading has been challenging. Watching a film has been no simple matter. Writing has proved a challenge. Prone to anxiety and depression as I am the closeness of the election -- even with the promising trends of the last few days -- has taxed my already delicate emotional state. I've been a seething cauldron of disquiet, apprehension, uneasiness, dread, disquiet and borderline panic. 

It's been difficult to manage going half an hour without checking the latest news on The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, CNN and Twitter. Wife and oldest daughter check constantly too and we're often updating one another. This is no way to live.

I've never felt more directly impacted by an election. If Trumpy were to retain office, one consequence would be that the coronavirus would rage on with no end in sight. Covid-19 is difficult enough to handle with leaders who take it seriously, with a buffoon who dismisses it (despite all the deaths it continues to cause) the consequences are most dire indeed.

I here took a break to check the latest updates and after pulling ahead in Pennsylvania overnight, Biden is now adding to that lead and this whole deal might be wrapped up soon. Of course Trumpy is indicting he won't concede. This is no surprise because he is the least gracious man in America. Biden's people have apparently pointed out that Trumpy refusing to concede is not a problem, "because we know how to deal with trespassers in the White House." 

I do not believe that a Biden presidency is going to cure all this country's ills. But it is absolutely critical in giving us a chance at curing some. No progress is possible under Trumpy and indeed further regression is guaranteed. Many of us simply want to be able to hope again and not be burdened by having to follow the actions of lunatic who is occupying the highest office in the land. What a depressing state of affairs these past four years have been in the United States. What a mockery it has made of those claims that this is the "greatest country in the world." 

The missus and I are now going to go for a walk. Later in the day we're going to the pharmacy where I'll refill my prescriptions. Oh, and buy more Pepto-Bismol.