I don’t usually get political in this blog or on any of my social media sites. It’s not because I’m apolitical—I’m a staunch conservative, in case you didn’t know—but because I have no desire to join the firestorm-beset wasteland that is “internet discourse.” I’ve been a troll magnet in the past, and let me tell you, while I can endure the abuse (and even laugh at it), it is tiring.

Regardless, the strangest election cycle, well, ever, finally came to an end Tuesday night. Or rather, Wednesday morning at 2AM. I voted, but it was with reservations. I wasn’t excited about either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I was a Ted Cruz supporter during the primaries. Heck, I even attended one of his rallies when he came to Fort Wayne, Indiana (it was the first political rally I ever attended). If he hadn’t won, there were several other candidates I would’ve gladly voted for. I was disappointed to see Trump come out on top, and thanks to my state, no less. I honestly thought his appeal was largely a cult of personality (cue mandatory reference to the ‘80s song) fueled by angry people fed up with the government. Although, admittedly, it did give me some reassurance to see him nominate my state’s governor, Mike Pence, as his running mate.

There was a period in my life where people seemed to assume I was a Republican in my political beliefs, and they put me into the “box” they’d constructed for what that meant, most of it based on inaccurate stereotypes. Even when I tried to explain that I considered myself a conservative, not a Republican, that didn’t always seem to stick. For me, one’s political beliefs should be based on ideas and philosophies, not party affiliations. Just because I, or anyone else, tend to identify with one more than the other because they usually espouse similar ideas doesn’t mean my first loyalty is to that party.

That’s why, especially in the last few months, I’ve tried to make it clear that I was interested in the truth above anything else. I’d defend Trump if I felt someone was regurgitating misnomers that were being spread about him, but again, that didn’t mean my loyalty is to him. (I’d have done the same for Hillary, but, well, the truth is either hard to find about her or it’s unpleasant). I had no pretensions about who these candidates were. I was never all-in with Trump. He’s not the pseudo-messiah some of his supporters seem to think he is, nor is he the reprobate his haters think he is. I, like the majority of Americans, I think, was somewhere in the middle.

There’s a reason I joked on my Twitter and Facebook that this election could use the same tagline as the first Alien vs. Predator movie: “Whoever wins, we lose.”

Now all we can do is pray for President-Elect Trump and hold all of our leaders accountable for how they govern.

In meantime, enjoy these Star Wars memes I created for whoever won the election. 😛