What looked like an election that would likely ratify the partial progress of the Obama administration into the foundation of new progressive era has instead installed an administration set to eradicate the past eight years, root and branch.

What looked like a possible return of the Senate to the Democrats and a fighting chance to actually pass some legislation has become instead a government in complete Republican control, with no chance to stop or even slow any GOP desires.

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What looked like the possible final rupture in the bizarre GOP coalition of plutocrats looking for yet more wealth for themselves and people with less-than-charitable racial views has instead become a demolished Democratic Party, completely out of both power and prospects for the foreseeable future.

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What looked like an opportunity to end the long-standing conservative stranglehold on the Supreme Court now looks like another generation or more of possibly even greater conservative dominance.

What looked like the last practical opportunity to arrest the catastrophe of global climate change now looks like the last nail in the coffin of global climate stability of any sort, with the damage made permanent and cascading irrevocably and relentlessly into the rest of this century and beyond.

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Is there solace to be found in hopes that Donald Trump might “moderate” once in office? His early appointments are quickly dashing those hopes. And besides, Donald Trump is not going to stop being Donald Trump. He will govern the way he is. He will do as he pleases and seek to punish to extent he can punish, any way he can, to the extent that he can, anyone who dares to offer a different view. What could go wrong?

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All this from an election where Trump came in second in total votes, a result that would mean his loss in pretty much any other voting system. You could say that this is the outcome most perfectly designed to destroy and demoralize liberalism in the United States as far as the eye can see.