As I taught my math courses today at my college, I sensed a feeling of despair in my class that reminded me of when I was teaching on the afternoon of September 11. As I walked through the campus, I see looks of disbelief and comments like "I can't believe we have 4 more years..." It is a tough life for many of these community college students, who are struggling financially but yet seek a hope of improving their lives during a time of budget cuts and tuition increases.
I, too, am feeling the same sense of shock after seeing the positive exit polls and then watch the devastating returns come in from Florida and Ohio. As it became clear we were losing all the close races, I went to bed feeling hopeless and wondering what kind of country I lived in, how could such an incompetent person win, how had the polls been so wrong?
Then I remembered the power of fear.
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