Obviously, my optimism turned to shock then horror. I even still had a bit of hope this morning, but that has of course evaporated now, and I've shed a few tears during Kerry's concession speech. The worst is the feeling of helplessness -- that the next four years are in the hands of a leader that has already proven himself an embarrassment to this country and that there's nothing I can do about that. I'm going to have to start faking a Canadian accent when I travel out of the country.