A member of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College cast his ballot Monday for Donald J. Trump in Harrisburg, Pa. Credit Charles Mostoller for The New York Times

So, Round One of the Electoral College Part is completed and we have found out which interpretation of the democratic process is alive and well here in the U.S. of A.  It could have been the “by the people” part.  Or it could have been the traditional process part.  Ultimately, tradition trumped (you can safely say) the wishes of the majority.

Of course, Round Three has yet to happen – the official vote-counting by the House and the Senate, presided over by Vice President Biden.  Presumably, when that count is completed and any objections are resolved, the results will be considered final and the winner will be sworn into office on January 20^th.

No matter what, there will need to be a lot of attitude adjustments among the populace. We will no doubt be dusting off those old platitudes, big time.  Like “just suck it up.”  And “you made your bed, now lie in it.”  And probably “I told you so!  I told you so!”   To say nothing of “grin and bear it.”  And “deal with it.”  And, my personal favorite “pull up your big boy panties.”

Amalie Materna as Brunhilde, 1876

Pinterest tells us that there are 1,000 ways to say “xuck it up.”  Now that is just plain sad.  What it telegraphs to me is that a whole passel of us out here in the world beyond cyberspace need reassurance about our situations and that, no matter what, there’s a platitude to do that very thing.  God forbid we should think about our situation or find a thoughtful way to correct it.  And, admittedly I, too, am right in the middle of the knee-jerk platitude reaction.  For the time being, I’m stubbornly going with “it ain’t over till it’s over,” as Yogi Berra so famously said.   Or if you have a more theatrical turn of mind, “not till the fat lady sings.”

If today’s New York Times is correct (and who knows, these days) seven of the Electoral College members voted for people other than Clinton or Hillary!  How does that work?  And which platitude in my bag of tricks does that fit – “marching to a different drummer”?  Or maybe, not a platitude at all.  How about Albert Einstein’s observation on things:  “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”