DISCLAIMER: I’ll probably update this post throughout the evening – and maybe for days to come – so much for journalistic integrity… ;-)

6:00 PM EST
As I begin to digest the early results being endlessly analyzed by the talking heads on PBS Newshour tonight, my thoughts keep bouncing between the real Talking Heads cover of Take Me To The River and Once In A Lifetime.

7:00 PM EST
Ooooh, positive signs early in the evening for Mrs. Clinton – hope this holds out! :-)

7:30 PM EST
Ugh, what a difference 30 minutes can make… :-(

The hollow, almost, wide-eyed, looks on the faces of both David Brooks and Mark Shields are more than a little troubling… …better break out the vinyl – straight to Stop Making Sense – triple yikes!

9:30 PM EST
Uh, oh, seems Democratic panic is settin’ in! Yikes! …double yikes – the soft, red middle is weighin’ in – ahhhhha!

10:00 PM EST
Deep breath, deep breath, deep breath.

[The Pretenders wafting through the air in the background…] Stop All Of Your Sobbing

JFC, we’ve still got an hour ’til the west coast polls close! OMG!!! What were we thinking?

The [almost] silent army of mediocre white men aren’t giving up without a fight – battle stations, battle stations!!!

10:30 PM EST
Damn, had to go and pull out the big guns!

Williams Selyem Pinot Noir; yeah, even had to yank the estate stuff, (and vintage), nonetheless… :-(

Yup, had to delve into the Steely Dan trove too – opted for Everything Must Go, given how this monumental cluster f*ck of an election is going…

11:00 PM EST

Alrighty then… We’re starting to see western states results trickle in… …all expected results, but let’s face it folks, this is way, way, way closer than the so-called pundits thought it would be.

Wow, she lost Ohio and Florida? Dunno, but methinks Mrs. Clinton’s path “back home” ain’t what it was a few hours ago…

I’m tryin’ to counteract the urge to vomit in my mouth by watching Stephen Colbert’s live special on Showtime. Yeah, he didn’t make it two minutes into the monologue before he dropped his first so-called “f-bomb”… w00t! w00t!

Me? I tend to drop one about every sixty seconds, (at least when I’m awake). :-)

11:30 PM EST

TICKY TOCKY don’t take yer eyes offa da CLOCKY!

Holy Sh*t Batman! …we’re on the verge of the mother-f*cking Apocalypse!

The Witching Hour

…and what a son of a witch[ing hour]it is! Incredibly, the prospect of a Donald J. Trump presidency is now a very, very, real possibility. WTF?

Something tells me that p*ssy ain’t gonna grab back tonight – or tomorrow – or next week – or maybe ever… Sad. Truly sad.

1:00 AM EST

Jesus effin’ Christ, the army of mediocre white men have spoken, (or rather, yelled), and I am surprised, shaken, and staggered by the election results being posted, state by state.

What the f*ck just happened?

Do uneducated, blue collar-types still matter that much in today’s world? I’m having a harder and harder time reconciling the simple fact that people who rarely, if ever, leave their state, (dare I say county?), can have such a significant impact on the rest of the nation.

The soft, red, middle portion of the country has risen its morbidly-obese carcass from the couch and managed to waddle down to the ballot booth and vote an incredibly unqualified candidate into office. I am chagrined – deeply, deeply chagrined – by the results…

1:30 AM EST

…and as of 1:15 PM EST, it’s 215 Electoral College votes for Hillary R. Clinton and 244 Electoral College votes for Donald J. Trump.

The question of the enthusiasm of the Republicans vs. the so-called “ground game” of the Democrats came up tonight, and, I have to say, it’s looking like enthusiasm is going to win out. …and it generally does. Call it hunger, anger, fear, rage or the kinder, gentler version, “enthusiasm”, but those who are genuinely motivated will invariably overcome those who think they’ve got a lock. Seems motivation trumps confidence – damn, I think I just threw up in my mouth again… :-(

Me? I’m despondent – utterly despondent – and I will not look back on the 2016 election cycle with any fondness whatsoever.

It’s dark outside, and it’s going to stay dark for a very, very long time. Sure, celebrities get to “…vacate the premises…” for a while, but the rest of us have to hang around and muddle through what will prove to be a very, very challenging four years. Very.

2:00 AM EST

Too bad the PBS Newshour pundits are veering toward punch drunk at this point, but who can blame them? They do need to stop flashing stupid Twitter posts up on the screen as if they were newsworthy in and of themselves. They’re not. C’mon folks, time to gulp down another cup of coffee and start behaving like professionals, OK?

…and enough of the breast-beating/rending of hair/gnashing of teeth about “…how did we [collectively] miss this [outcome] so badly?” Uh, it’s because you missed it!

I missed it too – I should’ve done more than just writing posts aimed at belittling this most reprehensible Republican candidate and whining to friends/family about how awful Donald J. Trump is/was. Maybe I should’ve volunteered to go door-to-door, or spent a few hours calling up voters, but I opted to do neither. I waited. I watched. I wrote. I cast my ballot, (weeks ago), and I thought I’d done enough.

It was not enough – no, not nearly enough… :-(

I’m going to regret not doing more to prevent this repugnant human being from becoming the President of the United States. I suspect this regret will linger for a very, very long time. Very.

…but to pointlessly lament the enormous blind spot we – as a nation – seemed to have developed? No. Not productive. Not productive at all. Don’t look for external factors to blame the outcome on either, (read “the Russians” or the so-called “alt-right”). Rather, I’d suggest we all go take a good hard look in the mirror…

Yeah, something like “We have met the enemy and he is us.” […profuse apologies to the late Walt Kelly].