With 95% of precincts reporting nationwide according to Wikipedia (as of 4am on Saturday, November 9), it’s safe to say that the US presidential election is decided.

Donald Trump will presumably swear the oath and assume the office on January 20, 2025, having received votes from about 22.5% of the population.

Kamala Harris, having received votes from only about 21% of the population, probably has a more enjoyable life awaiting her as she re-enters the “private sector” after 35 years in various government positions. Her vice-presidential pension, being based on her time in and as president of the US Senate, comes to less than $20,000 per year, but she and husband Doug Emhoff share a net worth of at least $8 million. She won’t be missing any meals and she’ll have all the free time she wants.

All other candidates combined received votes from about seven tenths of one percent of the population.

The real winner of the presidential election, as usual, was None Of The Above.

About 57% of the population didn’t vote for ANYONE for president. Some of them had no opinion. Some of them had an opinion but chose not to vote. Some may or may not have had an opinion but just  weren’t allowed to vote.

So if you hear someone claiming a “landslide” or “mandate” for anyone but NOTA, well, now you know better.

Fewer than one in four Americans voted for Donald Trump, while more than one in five voted for Harris and a solid majority voted for neither of them.

Yes, we will end up with a murderous authoritarian in the White House for the next four years, but that’s business as usual and was always going to happen. The only question was whether the murderous authoritarian would be a Republican or Democrat. US elections are heavily rigged to produce one of those two murderous, authoritarian results, every time, without exception.

If you strongly preferred Trump to Harris or vice versa, you’re probably either ecstatic or depressed right now. I’m not sure WHY you consider the choice between a Ted Bundy and a John Wayne Gacy so important, though. You wanted a murderous authoritarian and you got one. Don’t be a sore winner, OK?

My sympathies definitely lie with the majority who didn’t pick one of your crappy candidates but who nonetheless find ourselves stuck with four more years of this serial killer circus.

See you in four years, if we both survive.

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter:@thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

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