The dust from the election of the chief ignoramus has not settled. May it never. Others are saying that, too. Straight Upper Joan Daniels, a regular reader, writes:

I have come to the conclusion that the "majority" of Americans are simply morons and nothing now will ever convince me otherwise. I'm amazed by the people in the streets cheering for Bush — people who will be unemployed and disinfranchised over the next 4 years because they've reelected him.

There's now nothing holding back the "regime." They're free to do whatever they wish and they wish to do a lot and it's all very bad. And I don't want to hear any talk of "binding wounds" and "reuniting Americans" either.

The people who voted for him perhaps deserve to have him as their president, but I didn't do anything to deserve him and I'm not endorsing him. How could people vote for him?

And what's with all this hypocritical talk about moral values? Is what we are doing (and will continue to do!) in Iraq moral? What is the rest of the world going to think of Americans now that we've reelected those monsters???

I commented to a friend before the election that I'd like to tell myself, if Bush won, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But the fact of the matter is, I fear it may be exactly that. This country may never recover, ever, from 8 years of George W. Bush, God's chosen President.

It shouldn't have been a close election, it should've been a landslide for John Kerry. The American people have spoken and informed the world they are complete idiots.

Her comments jibe with these and these and these, all by Kyle ("No Time to Retreat") Gann, who said early and well what had to be said, and these by Jane ("The unteachable ignorance of the red states") Smiley, who sounds remarkably like someone separated at birth from Gann.

And now comes sorry news that our far-seeing standard-bearer of bad tidings, Paul ("No Surrender") Krugman, is taking a leave from his column until sometime in January to complete an economic textbook. His departing words bring further warning of nasty times ahead:

I don't hope for more and worse scandals and failures during Mr. Bush's second term, but I do expect them. The resurgence of Al Qaeda, the debacle in Iraq, the explosion of the budget deficit and the failure to create jobs weren't things that just happened to occur on Mr. Bush's watch. They were the consequences of bad policies made by people who let ideology trump reality. Those people still have Mr. Bush's ear, and his election victory will only give them the confidence to make even bigger mistakes.

If the dust does settle, it's likely to be our own. To keep that from happening, breathe deep and let rip.