POSTNOTE Nov. 11, 2016: Comments at the end of this post. In addition, I highly recommend “Broken Glass“, posted overnight, with lots of reflective long term thinking. We are in the first days at the fork in our national road – which fork do we choose? Each of us bear part of the burden.
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I have added comments from several individuals and some additional data to yesterdays post. I will continue to add if/as others are received.
The last most recent e-mails:
1. from friends of many years: “My word! [we] are shocked. I like what Time magazine said heading one of their articles before the election: “This election is about what a woman can do and what a man can get away with”.” From another: “I’ve been in tears most of the day.”
2. Just Above Sunset, very long, but very worth reading in its entirety, “Waking up to Trump”. #
This is the most recent data on the election (and its context):
Donald Trump, 59,611,678 votes (279 electoral, 270 required for election)
Hillary Clinton, 59,814,018 votes (228 electoral)
In our country of 325,000,000 people there were 216,000,000 potential voters on Tuesday.
Roughly 100,000,000 people didn’t vote….
More data, including links, at yesterdays post.
In a very real sense, we are at the shock stage – two days after our electoral 9-11-01.
I doubt that the results Tuesday were expected by anyone, including those who won.
THE “FORK” IN OUR NATIONAL “ROAD”
9-11-01 brought us years of war and near financial bankruptcy because of our societies choice of which fork in the road to take 15 years ago. We were quite okay with war, then. Afghanistan Oct 7 2001001
Now, 11-8-16 presents its same fork in the road, but now it is among ourselves, in our own families and towns.
Everyone has to decide, which fork to take. There is no “on the other hand” in the coming days….
Here’s an old graphic from some workshop about 1972 that I always find useful for reflection at a time like this.
(click to enlarge)

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# Just Above Sunset is a six-days per week digest on the national/international scene, free, is worth your subscription. Its compiler is a retired guy in Los Angeles. (his bio is at the blog). It just quietly comes to your mailbox, easy to access, or delete.)
NOTES
Today, note the next nine people you see (you are the tenth).
Three of them voted for Donald Trump
Three of them voted for Hillary Clinton
Four of them did not vote at all.
In January 2016 the Republican Party controls the Presidency, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Who will they, and their supporters, blame?
COMMENTS:
From Audrey: Thank you Dick.
from Bob: My thoughts are simply this — “never discount the combination of anger and ignorance.”
from Bernie Sanders via Steve: NOTE: in my space, I tend to not insert comments from prominent people, like Bernie. At the same time, he was the messenger for a large number of progressives in the year preceding Hillary Clintons nomination.
Bernie Sanders: “Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media. People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids – all while the very rich become much richer.
To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment politics, we will vigorously oppose him.”
Dick, responding to Bernie’s comment via Steve: Personally, I’ve never had much confidence in always angry people, generally….
I am often motivated by anger, but I try to channel it into (I hope) constructive action. Too often I see people stuck in just being angry, but never doing anything constructive with it. There were plenty of these in Bernie’s camp. Of course, there’s also the poster child for destructive anger: the prisons are full of these, who take out their anger on someone else, with a gun, or whatever!
from Don: Thanks, Dick, for the excellent link to the “Sunset” article.
The wisdom and experience of people like you will guide us through the next few years, but it’s going to be tough.
You have my total support. We are, in fact, united together.
from Frank: Today I’m starting to feel a bit like our Native brothers must surely feel. We have a government that is supposed to be for the people, but functions for the bottom line of companies, and makes power something to be bought and sold. (Think oil pipe line) Common Good???? No such thing. We want the government out of our lives, and yet demand more aid for the military, the farmers, and every southern state that has a disaster.
We have socialism in a hundred ways, and yet the 3.2 beer joint philosophers don’t want to hear the term. They admire the bully, the Putin-type, that in their mind dictates the way, and takes no shit from anyone. They feel we can go back to an island mentality, and we don’t need the rest of the world. (Check anything with a plug-in to see this as fallacy) They will hate those with darker skins or a different heritage, and plot to destroy them on their way to their faux-Christian churches. They will talk about being pro-life and want the death penalty, and a halt to welfare. If you stand in the way of what they want, you will be destroyed. Ask any Native American.
This could be a very scary time in our history, but, am I currently disillusioned? Yup.
from Annelee, who grew up in Nazi Germany and was 7 years old when Hitler came to power in 1933. The other comment comes from a 19-year old who voted for the first time on Nov. 8.
Dick, here is a refreshing outlook of a young man I call my friend —I think he is nineteen, the first time he could vote.
I wish those protesters would go home. Hillary earned my respect with her concession speech. If her supporters would only listen to what she said. Or don’t they hear?
from her young friend, Jerry: Wow.. what a crazy election! I cannot believe the outcome of last night. I am neither sad or happy, but shocked. I am sort of excited to see what new changes will come when Mr. Trump gets into office. Who knows, maybe he will be the best president the United States has ever had. I am not a supporter of him, but I cannot dislike him right away, because he has done nothing to damage the country as of now. Maybe he will bring lots of good to the United States much like Hitler did in his early reign.
I cannot believe you have lived during the time of two very powerful leaders, Hitler and Trump, it is crazy to think that you have experienced both of them! You have seen a lot of powerful things in life, and have survived some of the hardest times, another reason why I look up to you with great respect. I may not agree with Mr. Trump on all issues, but I will never hate him. I learned from your books that it is not okay to hate anything or anyone, people may not agree or like the actions or beliefs of someone, but you said to never hate.
Hopefully the next 4 years will bring lots of good to America!