My wife and I had a Plan B if the unthinkable should happen, and apparently it has. If Kerry had won, we would have started to build on some land we bought in Vermont. I would have gotten into the stock market a bit more. In general, I would have acted more like an 'American' optimist. No more. The party's over. Time to leave.
I know that our Plan B is not for everyone, but as I've often noted, I'm a statistic. We're going to sell our townhouse in Boston as well as the 40 acres in Vermont. We're moving to Canada (probably Vancouver, but perhaps Toronto), and I expect that a lot of intellectuals and creative professionals (I'm a User Interface Designer myself) will also jump ship. This is something we've been discussing and pondering for years now, and even though it sounded to others like an idle threat, we're actually going to do it.
The flight of liberals to Canada and Europe will be reported as a blip on the screen. it may or may not have an appreciable effect on the US economy. Brain drain is difficult to quantify.
Some friends and coworkers have said that I should stay behind and fight. After all, if everybody with half a brain left in there head fled the US, all that would be left would be the rednecks and know-nothings. After long hours into the night for 4 years working for the Dean Campaign, MoveOn, ACT and others, I'm done fighting. If people ask me why I left the US, I'm going to tell them 'I didn't leave my country. My country left me'. I'm sure there are lots of others like me.
What am I leaving? The spectre of all three branches of the government controlled by the right wing of the Republican party, an inch-by-inch usurping of individual rights, a thin wall between Church and State crumbling, and a malevolent chief executive who will see the popular vote majority as a mandate for his plans to loot the treasury and distribute the spoils to his cronies. Please stop me before I get even more upset. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to leave it to someone else to sort it out. I'm done tilting at windmills.