Paul Krugman attempts to collect our still-scattered thoughts this morning in his piece, “The Tainted Election”:

[This election] was not, as far as we can tell, stolen in the sense that votes were counted wrong, and the result won't be overturned. But the result was nonetheless illegitimate in important ways; the victor was rejected by the public, and won the Electoral College only thanks to foreign intervention and grotesquely inappropriate, partisan behavior on the part of domestic law enforcement.

The question now is what to do with that horrifying knowledge in the months and years ahead.

I was having this conversation with a few folks at lunch yesterday, and overall our talk was full of anger, anxiety and, to me, way too much of the usual Democratic hand-wringing, while being way too short on answers or strategies. But it was just a lunch, after all, and none of us are policy wonks. We're all trying to figure out what to do with our horrifying knowledge in the face of those who don't care about knowledge, or facts. 

This is key: feet to the fire:

Politics being what it is, moral backbones on Capitol Hill will be stiffened if there are clear signs that the public is outraged by what is happening. And there will be a chance to make that outrage felt directly in two years — not just in congressional elections, but in votes that will determine control of many state governments.

We need other pols to distance themselves from Trump, and that will only happen if it affects their bottom line—votes. 

To me, this is even more key, and might be my quote of the year for 2017:

Personally, I’m still figuring out how to keep my anger simmering — letting it boil over won’t do any good, but it shouldn’t be allowed to cool. This election was an outrage, and we should never forget it.