It won't be over on Tuesday

One of the things I didn't look forward to when I was a lawyer was negotiating contracts. I was a young guy, new at that endeavor, and I took things too personally. I was also impatient. These are not good traits to bring to a negotiating table on Wall Street.

The people I was up against were usually a lot more experienced than I was, and they knew how to work a green lawyer like me. I think the deals my clients got turned out to be pretty fair, but I always flew home feeling beat up. I made some rookie mistakes. The biggest one among them was not staying cool and treating it like the game it was.

Of the many types I sat across the table from, a common one was the obnoxious New York face card who never admitted they were wrong, hung onto ridiculous positions long after they were shown to be unreasonable, and never let you feel you won an argument on any issue, even when they were conceding the point. With this kind of person, after a while you'd get so disgusted that you'd give in on all the small crap, just to get rid of them. They didn't care that they were showing themselves to be a colossal jerk, and they sure didn't care if they gave you, personally, an ulcer. They didn't give a damn what you thought of them, because they probably would never have to deal with you again. It was all a game.

I tell you this story because I know that a lot of you are anxious about the election, and you can't wait for it to be over. You're planning to stay up late Tuesday night, waiting to hear Lester Holt or Wolf Blitzer or somebody like that tell you that it's final, Biden won, it's airtight, have a glass of champagne, and finally, finally! Go to sleep in peace.

That is not going to happen.

Orange Caligula has never in his life ever admitted that he is a loser, on any issue, no matter how obviously he has failed. He isn't going to start admitting that now.

So there will be lawsuits, probably some violence by his goons, and he will drag it out as long as he can. No matter how badly he loses, he will never concede. It was rigged, a stolen election, etc. He will never attend a Biden inauguration.

It's not clear to me how this sociopath will ever leave the White House peacefully. Many people have died during his horrible reign, and sad to say, it would surprise me if more didn't have to die in order for that reign to end.

So as hard as it may be, chill out for now. If you've voted, put it down for a while. Save your adrenaline for the next couple of months, because there's little to no chance that our national nightmare will be over on Tuesday night, or even by this time next week.

Here in Oregon, the bulk of the ballots will be counted by Tuesday night. Most, if not all, of the state and local races will be decided at that time. Plan to party, or cry in your beer, over those. But forget reacting to the White House race for a while. Inauguration Day is 81 days from now; you can go nuts then.

And do yourself a favor and limit your TV "news" time for the next few days. Those people make a living by riling you up. They crank up your anxiety level on purpose, so that you keep the set on and let them pitch prescription drugs to you. Find something else to watch, something else to do. A half hour a day of that stuff is enough.