I didn’t see this coming. If I was a betting man and laid out some money on the outcome of this election, I would have lost some money last night. The main bright spot is that the numbers favor Biden winning the presidency as the vote comes in from a handful of states.

If that happens and if Biden withstands legal challenges from Trump lawyers and becomes the next president, that would be a major victory.

To say that we are on a fast track to fascism if Trump wins is problematic in my view. We won’t be in a good place for sure, but between where we are now and a fascist state are a number of landing spots, depending on concrete circumstances.

(Got this one wrong. Sam) STOP THE COUNT says the occupant in the White House. While it is troubling, actually outrageous, that Trump would make such a demand, what is interesting is that nearly no one joined the chorus. Even Republicans, usually reluctant to oppose Trump in public, distanced themselves from him and said that the vote count must continue.

Any explanation for the refusal of white voters to break with Trump in yesterday’s election, despite seemingly good reasons to do so, has to include the role of FOX and the rest of the right wing media. This media juggernaut enjoys a loyal and captive audience of tens of millions who turn to it daily in order to understand a complex and changing world.

In claiming to be the victim of a rigged and corrupted election and making baseless accusations of fraud last night, Trump is attempting to set one half of the country against the other, provoke violence, and delegitimize the election. His campaign to “blow up” what millions of voters decided in the sanctity of a polling booth earlier this week should be strongly repudiated by people of all political persuasions. The fire of hatred, disruption, and division should be summarily resisted and extinguished.