I am not going to build up to this. We all know the format thanks to David Letterman. Assuming a major loss in November by the Republicans, meaning lost White House, lost Senate majority and Democrats pick up seats in the House, these top ten things are likely to happen. So, here goes:

The top 10 things the GOP remembers after a failed Trump re-election bid

10. The Deficit: Say what you want but President Obama handed a strong and growing economy off to President Trump. In two short years after Trump’s inauguration, and enabled by the GOP, Trump grew the deficit by $2 trillion. I am not going to put the Covid period into this amount — we need to keep this on a “all things being equal” level. …

President-elect Biden, like Barack Obama before him, is not in an enviable position. The mess being handed off to him is perhaps like nothing an American president has ever faced.

The weakened and frail state beyond our borders is magnified by the chaos this president has created domestically.

The division that characterizes our nation can only be compared to one other time in our history. Then it was over the right to enslave humans and now it is over do you love him or not — the “him” here is Donald Trump. …

Standing on the edge, the tips of my shoes balance me on the railing — I may have gone too far forward and so pulling myself back seems unlikely. Leaping is the only way forward.

Survival be damned, the consequences of my act are mine and mine alone: the deep, turbulent waters of Lake Assumption await. This article is based on the assumption that Donald Trump loses his bid for re-election.

On the day after the world accepts that Donald Trump has lost, the defaced American flags with his scowl won’t go away but will likely increase. The defaced American flags with the large blue swath in the middle won’t go away but will be even more belligerently displayed — this is probably a good thing, though. …

For someone being muzzled, I have never heard so much bullshit being spewed in my life.

Poor little Joshy Hawley, the junior senator from Missouri, has been on a rare run lately even by Trump-era standards.

The problem is, Joshy, didn’t grab a woman by the genitals or give secrets to the Russians, all forgivable offenses in the eyes of the modern-day Republican Party; instead, the Joshster was seen raising a fist of Black Power — except he is as marhmellowy fluffy as they come — to the fluffernutter crowd just prior to their seditious act.

Obviously, that raised, fist — one that surely has never hit anything but a mirror on a bad hair day, “Mooommmm, why won’t my Dennis the Menace curly-q behave for Joshy? “ — was his attempt to show both show his support for Trump and hedge his bet should that crowd get around to hanging people. …

We keep writing about the Trumpists like only they matter. I am guilty of this myself, though.

In the way I used to be historically-obsessed with post-Weimar Germany, just couldn’t understand how an educated and cultured country like Germany could take to Nazism, now I find myself constantly asking: how did we succumb to Trumpism? He was just so blatant in his shallowness. He was just so Trump. I don’t want to uncork those feelings again. Those emotions were extinguished last week — kind of.

When Trump exited the White House with the abysmal First Lady Melania — I am still contemplating reeling off an essay in dishonor of her — there was something actually sad about the moment. I am not even exaggerating. I began to choke up. The petulant, vile man-child stood there looking over at the small crowd of journalists and, as a compassionate human being, the obvious sense of being lost he was feeling washed over me. …

Many Americans were shocked by the events that unfolded in Washington, DC on January 6th. People acted as if the rhetoric the president sent out in tweet after tweet was falling on rational ears.

No one will think he’s serious, some of my one-percenter friends said to me with their usual over-confidence. Have you ever noticed how people making a lot of money on Wall Street always think they are so smart? They even aggravate me.

People finally realize he is a buffoon. All will be okay, another messaged me with as if he were dispelling my naivety with his monied wisdom (he is worth around $300 million). …

There’s a lot wrong with us right now, too much really after four years of Trump.

If we add the previous eight years, when the Republicans led my Mitch McConnell obstructed every single policy put forth by President Obama to do to rebuild our country after The Great Recession, then and I would say things are critically bad in the United States.

The pandemic has shined a bright light on many of the weak spots. It has become glaringly obvious, for example, just how flawed America’s approach to health care truly is. …

When I first entered, I was struck by the the celebratory mood. The place was filled with time-worn men and women who had figured out long ago how to sand down the edges just enough to make life bearable. They had learned how to ensure that commitment and loyalty to grander ideals, such as patriotism, never waivered. Chatting and smiling like they hadn’t a care in the world, few paid me much heed.

I subtly scanned the room for open seats and saw just one bar stool. The guy occupying the stool next to the free one had sensed my uneasiness and offered a warming smile followed by a small nod of the head: yes, this seat his free. …