What I saw a few days back is that other than in 2026 this time third-party votes diodn't make a difference to the Dem loss. In the Swing States Stein achieved vetween 0.3% to 0.8%, far less than the winning difference of the T campaign against the Harris campaign. So don't blame daughter, at least not this time.

Anyway, although I understand the various sentiments that factored into the voting decisions, what I do not understand is the oblivion of the U.S. voters not to take into consideration the effect of such elections on the foreign policy and the consequences for the world, be it political, financial, economically, environmentally. U.S. citizens have a responsibility, in my opinionk, to think about such consquences as well, and then I find this strange mix of lack of education, self-aggrandizement, and autism in U.S. voters rather appalling.

But be it as it may, T has a mandate now, and that makes me ache in a way I don't feel very often. I guess that must have been the feeling by many when on January 30th, 1933, Hitler became Reich Chancellor.

And there is the tiny possibility that things may even get worse by T holding back, somehow "solving" the wars in the Middle East and in Europe, not pushing world economy to the brink. What if he turns out tame and more or less successful. How will that change people's attitudes toward authoritarian conduct? Yuck!