What the F**K Just Happened?

How could we go from having a Harvard-educated, intelligent, eloquent president to the prospect of one who is a racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, bullying clown – and in between casting off a Yale-educated diplomat who has a record for fighting for women and children?

And what can we do about it?

Journalist/author Susan Campbell recommends joining the League of Women Voters, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood.

#PantsuitNation, a Clinton-centric Facebook group, sprang up practically overnight and quickly grew to more than 3 million members. They have gone from joyfully anticipating the election of the first woman President to offering comfort in each other and offering hope for the future in their solidarity. 

Despite that solidarily, 42 percent women voted for Trump. It gets worse: According to an Edison Research exit poll, 53 percent of white women and 62 percent of non-college educated white women voted for Trump!

Shame on you!

But in the meantime, we need to grieve and try to find some comfort, somewhere. Our emotions are raw. We’re in shock. What's heartbreaking is that Clinton won the popular vote, but did not get the 270 electoral college votes.

How will we be able to look at the orange face for the next four years? The individual has no experience in the political arena, failed business ventures, dicey financial dealings, a personality that is clinically off the charts. He succeeded in alienating both parties – parties with which he must now build a coalition, of sorts.

A Supreme Court judge must be selected, posing a threat to Roe v. Wade. He’s vowed to overturn the Affordable Care Act, with no viable alternative; will those now insured under it be left without coverage? What about Social Security? He doesn’t have to worry about paying bills in his dotage, nor do most members of Congress. What about the volatile Middle East? This man will now have access to the nuclear codes.

Let’s hope he will have a cabinet and advisors that will help keep a lid on this pressure cooker. And, as a Facebook friend mentioned, there is a system of checks and balances in place… supposedly.

As a journalist, I’m embarrassed that we gave him unblanketed coverage that moved him from the entertainment page to the front page. Every insane utterance was documented, encouraging his disenfranchised, knuckledragging white male population and women who want no more than to be sent back to their chattels. It's the ultimate dumbing down of America.

However, as this article by Margaret Sullivan in the Washington Post eloquently states, “Make no mistake. This is an epic fail. And although eating crow is never appealing, we’ll be digesting feathers and beaks in the next weeks and months — and maybe years.”

I was in tears when Clinton was nominated as the first woman President and in tears when I cast my vote yesterday. I’m in tears now absorbing Trump’s victory.

We need to get beyond this. But how?

As another Facebook friend succinctly said, “We need to stand up and fight for what we know we can do...together. Put on your big girl pant suit, dry your tears and get involved.”