Navel-gazing about why Democrats lost the presidency is a nonproductive distraction, for now [View all]

We don’t know WHY, because it comes down to over 40% of voters being hard-core GOP or cult members, unmoved by the wretchedness of their candidate.

I am SICK to DEATH of hearing about which group voted this way or that way, or that our policy focus (read “Kamala’s”) missed the mark, or that we (read “Kamala”) was too liberal or seen with too many conservatives or didn’t address the economy the right way… Blah blah blah.

Forget lessons about how to win next time, and buckle the hell up. None of us has 100% clarity on what’s coming, but there is a nonzero chance that the US is about to be dragged into an avalanche or a landslide, pushed into a ravine.
There may not be elections in 4 years that mean anything, or there may be fights over having them.
There may be witch-hunts of Democratic congressmen with trumped up charges.
Your kids may begin their school mornings saluting a picture of an orange potato-head or a religious symbol belonging to a different religion, and you may have no ability to stop that.
The government might declare that you are second-or-third tier based on your race, politics, gender, sexuality, or ethnic origin.
We may not see it reported much on TV, but millions of our fellow citizens may have their families ripped apart with deportations, even of people who lived their whole lives here but whose South Texas birth certificates were invalidated.
We may have new allies, like Russia, to replace our old Allies.
Inflation may spike to 30% or more at some time in the next 4 years.
Your 401k’s may be pummeled, or used against you to justify cutting out your social security.
A stock market bubble will burst, or a liquidity crisis will appear (BRICS hints, for example, or a debt default as early as January), and it will be used as an excuse to push through massive legislation to accomplish an austerity plan.
A terrorist event may happen, and it will be used as an excuse to ramp up the police state, to change rules of engagement, and blame will be conveniently assigned to some group.
Instead of learning lessons the hard way, the Red Hats will be taught that we are responsible for these calamities.
The startup (real or announced) of a ‘strategic cryptocurrency reserve’ may start a flight from dollars to plummets their value.
Abortion is likely to be banned nationwide, and possibly no-fault divorce, contraception, along with it.
The few rules that protect you from health insurance companies may be out the window — so higher rates for pre-existing conditions, higher rates for women, divert you away from hospitals to “emergency clinics” and third-rate medicine.
Bounties may be offered for snitching on people who try to organize opposition.
Nonprofits will be purity-tested and sued out of existence.
Free anonymous expression online may be out the window.
Employment is probably already being affected, as companies are already trying to avoid angering the new administration.
Protest the wrong things, get counted as antisocial, a black mark on your background check. As the economy falters, the allocation of jobs may be prioritized in new ways.
Wage discrimination will become much more rampant, with no recourse.
More of our national parks will be sold off, or mined. Others will be made unaffordable.
We will witness long show trials of upstanding people that we admire. Untimely deaths, or Russian-style defenestrations, may happen from time to time that make us feel paranoid and disturbed by the injustice of it.

There was little to NOTHING wrong with Kamala. I chalk our loss up to successful counter-programming and dumbing down of the right for the last 40 years, now super-powered by “algorithmic microtargeting”. But we don’t have the luxury of fretting over details. There is a nonzero chance that our worlds will be changing fast afterJanuary 20th. Get prepared however you can. Be awake to your own life, your own loved ones.