"Last night, I had a nightmare..."

Then I woke up to stark reality. I gotta tell ya'...not sure which is worse. Groggy, disappointed, deflated...
As I got up and picked out some clothes for the day, it occurred to me that GWB will probably be representing this country for another 4 years. I shut off the TV (running through the evening).
As I brushed my teeth, it dawned on me that more that this country is run by fairly simple people with guns. Even if they DON'T have guns, they want to be sure they can get one whenever they want...in case the gays start marrying...or something...
As I got in my car and started my day, the noise of the inevitable concession drifted in....radio, TV, conversation...
It's like that feeling you get when you're excited about a new experience with a group of people (taking a class, starting a new job...)...something you're really looking forward to. A chance to present yourself and express ideals and hopes and interests in a pure forum. Then, when you get there, you realize that no one there likes you. In fact, most of them think you're an asshole.
Stark...raw...sudden truth...
Now what?

It probably doesn't help that I'm sitting in the server room of a Law firm.

I wandered over to Quincy Market for "lunch" (coffee)...as I got there, so did John Kerry to "do the deed". It was strange to see him there in person after seeing him on TV for so long. Surprisingly happy, he spouted his usually effective rhetoric...sometimes interesting, sometimes just enough to be clear...always articulate, though. Always. I still find this an admirable quality, regardless of the general concensus.
He thanks those folks who deserve to be thanked...campagn leaders, his family, his partner, some kid that raised $600 in the summer selling bracelets...
I settled in to the idea. Then, as I was walking away, somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even, and in his final words I found an ace that I could keep. He said:

"But in an American election, there are no losers, because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans. And that -- that is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good fortune that can come to us on earth."

He's just as right when he says that as George Bush Jr. is.
So I went back to work and wrote this.