1. It’s Wednesday, November 9, 2016.

2. On this date in 1965, New York City and much of the Northeast suffered a massive power failure.

The lights were out until early the next morning, but it was more of a shared communal experience than a catastrophe.

3. Now, the lights have gone out again. This won’t be so pleasant.

The Americans who reject diversity and education and tolerance have seized the day. They have given the raspberry to the Golden Rule.

Ubi est mea? Where’s mine? That is their mantra. That is how they view the world.

They think people of color, people of other faiths, people of other nations somehow get free stuff that they don’t get. There’s been this persistent thread online in recent years that the Obama administration was giving free cellphones to poor people. It’s rubbish.

4. There will be much hand-wringing in the next few days as the Trumpians celebrate at their bonfire of the vanities. What went wrong? Is that the America Americans really want? How did those of us who were so sure we would see the first woman President in our history miss this so goddamn badly?

Lots of us – and I’m pretty sure them ain’t reading this – will talk about leaving the country, or giving up on the country. And some of us will do what the old-fashioned thing that the people who backed the loser of the election do – congratulate the victor and try to heal the nation’s wounds.

5. The hell with all that.

In a few hours, the stocks in which my retirement funds are invested will lose 4% of their value. And that’s for starters. I have to worry about the safety of my son who’s teaching in South Korea. I have to worry about the way my adult daughter is treated in a country that has just OK’d male superiority.

I won’t take it lying down. I’m an American, too. And I think what this nation did to itself tonight is a horrendous breach of faith. 

6. The 2020 presidential election is 1,455 days away. We’re not failing next time.