Gobsmacked is a good word for it.  But, I have to say, the feeling isn’t new.  After all, I’m a woman.  I’m a liberal.  I fall in the lower middle class income-wise.  And… I’m short.  Not the best credentials in the world for qualifying as an underdog but legitimate all the same.  I know how it feels to be bullied, to endure the ‘wrong’ people in charge, and to feel powerless.

It’s hard not to say “Welcome to my world” to all my social media friends who are in serious mourning mode this morning.  The fact that we’ve been in denial, especially for the year just past, is lamentable to be sure.  But, we have work to do, so let’s get on with it.

Perhaps we should begin by doing the homework we should have done from the beginning.  What got us to this point and why didn’t we pay better attention?  One of the first things I saw on FaceBook this morning was the poignant question, “What will we tell our children?”  I think we’d be wise to turn that around.  What can our children tell us?  Especially those who have survived the playground bullies and have found ways to persevere with dignity in spite of being underdogs.

I do wonder, though, why so few people listened way back during the primaries when a few of the pundits said that Bernie Sanders would have a better chance than Hillary Clinton in a race against Donald Trump.  I believed it then and I believe it now.  Too late.  Sad but true.