1.  Has the rest of the world abandoned us yet?

2.  I’ve been glued to CNN, day in, day out. There’ve been a couple of other times in my life when I’ve stared at tv like this – when the USS Cole was attacked and the twin towers came down come to mind.

3.  Yes, I realize I’m comparing a presidential election to terrorist attacks…and yep, I stand by it.

4.  I’d imagine people around the world feel a bit like they’re being held hostage, waiting to see exactly how far down the rabbit hole America’s willing to go.

5.  Five things falling under Disappointed But Not Surprised this week:

6.  An enormous number of Trump votes. ENORMOUS. 69 million+ people took a look at four years of lies, wrecked international relations, dictator adoration, tearing apart our asylum system, and mishandling a pandemic to the tune of more than 235,000 deaths and said eh, okay, let’s see what he can do with another four years. Damn.

7.  Memes calling for kumbaya hugs after the election.

8.  That so many people slid seamlessly into the “but they’re cheating” narrative.

9.  Groups of folks showing up to protest poll workers counting ballots.

10.  That people can in one breath say we deserved to get pepper sprayed at a Get Out the Vote march but see no problem with hordes protesting the freaking foundation of democracy.

11.  And five things falling under Disappointed And Shocked The Hell Out Of Me:

12.  White mobs shouting STOP THE COUNT! while brandishing weapons.

13.  Poll workers earning minimum wage toiling around the clock during a freaking pandemic to count every single vote being escorted to their cars over safety concerns.

14.  Trump literally saying MAGAs didn’t do anything wrong when they tried to run Biden’s campaign bus off the road. I’m not shocked he thought it but saying it right out loud? He caught me off guard with that one.

15.  Trump’s acting like a spoiled child stomping his feet over losing a game and short of Mike Pence finding a spine in these last hours he’ll still have access to the nuclear codes for two more months.

16.  Those 69 million+ Trump votes because somehow retaining that number of supporters is both par for the course and shocking as hell.

17.  I need us to talk for a moment about what a rock star Stacey Abrams is.

18.  She would have been fiercely competitive in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race if it wasn’t drowning in voter suppression tactics. But did she stomp her feet and whine? (I’m looking at you, Donald.)

19.  No, she did not. Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, a voting rights nonprofit organization that worked tirelessly for two years so that Georgia citizens might have an equal voice in the 2020 elections.

20.  Side note: when on earth do these CNN people sleep? Or eat? And how do they not have an enormous coffee urn plopped down right on that desk by now??

21.  I have to be honest, I’ve never given a lot of thought to this electoral college debate.

22.  I’ve known people who felt strongly about ditching it – and by “strongly” I mean they’re willing to scream on twitter – but I haven’t really dug into what it means until this year.

23.  Cue me googling What is the Electoral College and why was it created?

24.  So even after reading the article – twice, honestly – I still struggle to see why holding onto the Electoral College is a good idea. It seemed one of the founders’ biggest concerns was that 18th century voters lacked the resources to be fully informed about candidates. This is hardly the case today.

25.  Will some voters remain uninformed? Yes, certainly. There are always folks who choose not to participate or even blindly vote by party affiliation or popularity, but information about candidates is widely accessible.

26.  Here’s the question that keeps sticking for me: if I live in this country am I any more or less a citizen than someone who lives in Texas, Rhode Island, California, or Alaska? A citizen is a citizen and seemingly we should all have equal say in who leads our country.

27.  So if I vote for Biden but 50.1% of my fellow North Carolinians vote for Trump then my vote doesn’t count toward electing my chosen candidate. Why? Shouldn’t my choice for president actually receive my support for president?

28.  On the flip side, let’s say you’re a Biden supporter in a largely democratic state. 65.1% of other Californians joined you in Biden votes so your support is bundled in and the electoral votes are assigned, but is your voice really heard? Or is it just swept along in the crowd?

29.  I guess the best way to put it is this: one person, one vote just makes sense to me. Your vote should count whether you live in a state of likeminded-thinkers or not.

30.  Anyone have another perspective on this? Is anybody a huge fan of the Electoral College? Maybe you can explain why it’s still beneficial today.

31.  Georgia is showing up, man. Trump’s lead is down to 1700 votes. SEVENTEEN HUNDRED. Damn, Georgia, you da man.

32.  I heard approximately four minutes of Trump’s speech from the White House yesterday.

33.  It was only four minutes because NPR cut away as soon as they realized it would be nothing but lies he’s tweeting about the election process. I have some thoughts, though.

34.  “They’re counting late ballots.” The ballots aren’t late. They were postmarked by the deadline and now they’re being opened. Some of those states would have started opening absentee votes weeks ago if state legislature hadn’t prevented it so stop yer moaning.

35.  “They won’t let us watch.” Poppycock. Every polling location has Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers.

36.  “And now they’re finding all these mail in ballots and they’re all for Biden!” Okay, dummy, YOU TOLD your supporters not to use absentee voting. You spent months telling them mail in ballots are voter fraud but now you’re shocked they didn’t mail in ballots?? Okay.

37.  “Michigan, we won the state. In Wisconsin, we did likewise.” No, you didn’t win the state, you can’t just call a win and poof! It’s done. You were leading in early returns. Then they kept counting the votes.

38.  “We lost zero races in the House.” I can hardly believe North Carolina stepped in to flip two House seats but there it is.

39.  And that’s only five examples. That speech was a stream of lies that kept the fact checkers hopping. Honestly, it’s like the man can’t figure out how easy it is to disprove this nonsense.

40.  I’d say I’m doing well. I’m being patient. I’m watching them count the ballots and chip away at leads and I know in the end we’ll have a fair and honest answer to who should lead our country. I can only hope cooler heads prevail when the final answer comes.