Hillary Clinton said it this morning in her concession speech: “This is painful, and it will be for a long time.”

No kidding. It will be painful for at least four years. Actually, given what is likely to happen to the Supreme Court, I think it could be painful for several decades. And at my age, I may not outlive the pain.

Issues and policies aside — as they were throughout the campaign — I didn’t like or trust either candidate. But my longstanding dislike of Hillary Clinton paled in comparison to the horror I felt at the thought of giving the U.S. presidency and command of our military to a man who doesn’t even understand why we haven’t used nuclear weapons. Not to mention the wave of actual nausea that hit me the first time I heard that vile, lewd conversation he had with NBC host Billy Bush in which he bragged about assaulting women … “And when you’re a star, they let you do it.”

I understand people being so angry and frustrated with Washington that they’d do almost anything to change it. I’ve felt that way too. But I can’t understand being so angry that I’d abandon all decency and common sense and vote for a man like Donald Trump. I can understand thoughtful, educated voters having an intense dislike for a woman who so “mishandled” something as relatively simple as email security, and then stonewalled and seemingly lied about it. But I can’t understand those same intelligent people thinking an erratic, unhinged narcissist like Trump was a better choice.

I don’t understand why anyone would think they could fix Washington and the nation by electing a man who has so amply demonstrated that he knows and cares only about self-aggrandizement. No, of course Hillary wouldn’t have fixed Washington; she’d have been more of the same. But at least she’s a rational, sensible adult who knows something about politics and elected office. She’d have been a stop-gap until a valid, effective, qualified candidate for change could be nominated … hopefully in 2020.

This feels like the Brexit hissy fit that swept Britain recently … and was regretted within days.

Donald Trump will be the face of the U.S. to the world for the next four years. Knowing that, I’m deeply embarrassed. I’m horrified. And I’m extremely fearful about the future.

“This is painful, and it will be for a long time.” What an understatement.