OK guys,

The election, this grueling slough of a political race, is behind us. It didn't turn out as we hoped. Hell, for many of us, that went out the window way back in July. Hillary Clinton cheated Bernie out of the nomination and karma responded by the electoral college cheating her out of the presidency. This is bad news for all of us.

But don't lose your head over this.

I get why you want to protest. I feel you. This is not the way I imagined the first presidential election of my adult life going, either. I wanted to see real change happen in my lifetime, so I will. Remember how Republicans obstructed the Obama administration for eight years? Now it's our turn. The president may be the most powerful man in the world, but he is not all powerful, by any means.

Go ahead and take a few days, few weeks, or what have you. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pray that 2016 doesn't take anything else from us in the remaining month and a half. But then, when 2017 rolls around, and it's time for President-elect Donald Trump (gag) to be inaugurated, we need to be right there. We are the voices that are going to be there reminding him that he did not have the popular vote. We are the voices that are going to be in his ear for a solid four years, watching over and dissecting every move he makes for the next 1461 days.

The election is over, but the revolution has only just begun. It will be our goal to be the thorn in Trump's side for his entire presidency, hounding him on his treatment of the environment, on how he handles healthcare in the face of his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We will stand at the White House fence and on the Capitol's steps waving our rainbow flags and hoisting our pickets in the air to remind him, and Mike Pence, that we are LGBT and we will not be trampled on.

Bernie Sanders is the face of the progressive movement, but we are the body. He is already doing his part to guide us on our path, beginning with stumping for Representative Keith Ellison, a real progressive, to be the new DNC chair. It is now up to us to look forward to 2018 to rebuild the Left, whether that means assisting Senator Sanders in reforming the Democratic party or abandoning it for a new progressive party. It will be up to us to reclaim Congress for the progressive movement.

The Old Guard Democrats are done. They've failed the people in favor of their allegiance to the corporate elite and Wall Street oligarchs. If you were like me, you rallied behind Hillary Clinton because there really was no other viable option after her and the old DNC colluded to beat out Bernie and the rest of his new progressives. Well, the Clintons are done. Their message, or lack thereof, has failed to ignite the people in the face of a new-age fascist populist. So it's our time.