This is why I play alone…and I suck.

This initially wasn’t going to be my 4th question, but it struck me as I was beating the devil out of a defenseless racquetball at 7 a.m. (no boxing gloves and punching bags were available, dang it). Glad I brought that ball and racket to the gym–it let me vent some of my swirling, very confusing emotions that I couldn’t quite articulate and were totally inconsistent. I doubt I was the only one feeling that way.

When my arms started to twinge, I stopped, cleaned up, and got ready for the day, anticipating that some people might need a friendly hug at the coffee shop. No takers, but some thumbs up, small grins, and quiet acknowledgements. That’s been the trend here today: quiet. People waiting in line started out the day really quiet with placid expressions (especially the ladies). I mean, I couldn’t tell if the people I saw had stayed up all night and were still bleary-eyed or they were disappointed at the result. Trump is the winner. Something about that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but I’ve been carrying that bad taste for over a year. One would think I’d be used to it by now.

I take after my first history professor when it comes to interpreting and explaining historical events. He said that because we are still discovering information, material classifications change, archives are opened or examined, etc., we shouldn’t try to analyze history that’s happened within the past 25 years. It’s too new. Well, with the overabundance of b.s. and information sources we’re bombarded with…okay, I admit, I still hold to that idea.

So it makes me wonder, 25 years from now, what the history books will say about this election cycle. I’m drawing a total blank, undecided as to what I’m supposed to feel. In every election I’ve lived through up to now, I’ve bounced between disappointment and relief. In this election, I’m experiencing various shades of numbness, anger, disappointment, incredulity, and just general confusion.

I doubt I’m the first person to ask this question this morning, but I’m really wondering: with the election of Trump as president, what does that say about us as a nation of people? I don’t mean the general ideas of “smart vs. stupid” (depending on your views), but rather what that tells other nations about the type of people we are and what we think we’re going through. What does it say to the rest of the world, that Trump is what most Americans picked at their best leader-to-be? Is that what the election is really saying?

I’ve seen snippets of articles, and will read more when this migraine-to-be winds down, where they describe the American people as “angry.” Well, considering everybody I’ve bumped into seems to be angry about different things, what specifically made it so Trump was our national choice?

Part of me wonders if it’s not the “rigged” system, or the entrenched party politics. This is part of the reason why I advocated to look all up and down the list when making voting decisions and NOT voting straight party ticket. I can’t get the figures on how many incumbents were kept vs booted out, but if we follow past precedent, it’s likely most of them (the Republican ones anyway) were kept.

This is what angers ME the most–we had a “do nothing” Congress that instituted government shutdowns and impeded even the discussion of Supreme Court nominations because of Obama. The politics has become so partisan that Group A refuses to work with or back anything Group B pushes forth–even if it’s a great idea and necessary for the nation–because it’ll make Group B look good. And vice-versa. Seriously, put the friggin’ country ahead of the party, you goobers! So the Republican-majority Congress did all it could to tie Obama’s hands and make him increasingly despised for reasons beyond his control.

And most of them just got re-elected, from what little I can glean at this early stage.

Part of me wonders if he did predict this election, then burned the quatrains for being too bizarre.

I don’t have to be Nostradamus to see that in the fabled “First 100 days,” Congress and Trump will be passing legislation like crazy, working together amiably to get things done for the good of the country.

I also don’t have to be Nostradamus to see that our “wonderful” media will report with glee that the President and Congress are at last working together again and unifying the country.

Cue the sunshine, flowers, rainbows and inevitable crappy cover of “Happy Days are Here Again.”

The media will conveniently forget the petulant, childish attitude of the Congress that stopped any and every-thing that Obama wanted to try and made him look ineffective at best, incompetent at worst. The media will forget and fall all over themselves to do and say what Trump wants because they’ve knuckled under in his presence too often (seriously, the guy can “shush” a moderator at a debate, interrupt and railroad the system? And get away with it?…No wonder the debates are considered a joke…).

America elected a bully, who now has a helluva bullying Congress that will put itself at his beck and call. I wondered about how this election would turn out when talking to family and others back when Trump threw his name in the hat. One observation I heard most was that since Trump was funding his own campaign and had his own money, he wasn’t going to owe anybody. “He can’t be bought,” they kept saying.

The only real response I had was “He’s too used to doing the buying. What happens when somebody says ‘no’?” I really don’t see that as much of an improvement, especially when we fast-forward to today.

Which brings me back to my initial question–what does this election say about the American people, who we are and what we want? What do people in other nations think of us after this election, about our choice of leaders the past few years? I have thought about this all morning and can’t think of a thing…at least, I can’t think of anything good.

I’d like to blame the migraine-coming-to-fruition, but its something I just can’t wrap my mind around. I’m at a loss…so if anybody’s got an answer, I’d love to hear it…after all, I’m all for learning new things, as I’ve said before. I have a feeling my anxiety and I will be besties for a while…