Nation in Transition: Protests against the election of Donald Trump turned violent in Portland, Ore. last night. Police used flash bang grenades and rubber bullets as protesters began to smash windows. Protesters also marched again in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

The “incompetent” met the “unqualified” yesterday at the White House as two men who spent the last year trashing each other shook hands and spent 90 minutes together.

There had to have been some steely moments behind the doors.

Donald Trump, who had never met the president before, described the meeting as “a great honor.” Obama said in front of reporters, “I want to emphasize to you, Mr. President-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed, then the country succeeds.”

The White House has been meticulously preparing for months to plug in their successors. That includes programming tablet computers with everything new staff and cabinet members need to know about who’s who and how things work. Of course, they thought they would be handing it all over the Hillary Clinton.

The 100 Days: Presidents-elect frequently set out ambitious agendas for their first 100 days in office and Trump’s list has been out there all along. As part of promise to “drain the swamp,” as he says, he wants a constitutional amendment to impose congressional term limits and a 5-year ban on White House staff and members of congress working as lobbyists after they leave the government.

Of course, because he has no experience or history in government, Trump will be heavily dependent upon current and former residents of the swamp to plug him into the power grid. Former Mississippi Republican Sen. Trent Lott, who’s now one of the most powerful lobbyists in the swamp, tells the NY Times, “He is going to need some people to help guide him through the swamp — how do you get in and how you get out? We are prepared to help do that.”

Lott, like a lot of lobbyists, represents big corporations hoping for tax breaks and eased regulations from the Trump administration.

Take Two Aspirin: One of the biggest targets on Trump’s agenda of virtually repealing the Obama administration is the Affordable Care Act. Twenty million Americans have gotten health insurance through Obamacare. Trump would replace much of it with health savings accounts, which is good mostly for people who have money to save.

Columnist Michael Hiltzik points out in the LA Times that repealing all of Obamacare at once is not legally possible, and removing parts of it would be likely to cause chaos and drive up costs even more. Hiltzik says, “Numerous provisions of the Affordable Care Act are subject to filibuster in the Senate, which the GOP doesn’t have 60 votes to avoid.” Hiltzik says, “As it happens, they include many consumer-protection reforms that are very popular, including the ban on exclusions or higher premiums for preexisting conditions, and caps on annual and lifetime benefits.”

Nation: A federal judge in Michigan has ordered the city of Flint to provide residents with bottled water because the municipal water is still contaminated. — The memoir Settle for More by Fox News host Megyn Kelly its stores the 15^th. Kelly details her creepy contacts with Donald Trump during the campaign and with her former boss Roger Ailes, who, she writes offered to advance her career for sex.

The Obit Page: Canadian Singer/Songwriter Leonard Cohen, who wrote enigmatic lyrics about love, depression, sex, suicide, politics, and war has died at age 82.

Cohen, was a master of lyrics in a league with Bob Dylan. He wrote “Suzanne,” first recorded by Judy Collins and “Hallelujah,” made immortal by Jeff Buckley. His song, delivered in a mournful voice, included “Bird on a Wire”, and “First We Take Manhattan.”

From “Suzanne”: And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind/And you know that she will trust you/For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind

The Sorrow and the Pity: Rarely has an election resulted in the emotions sparked by the ascendance of Donald Trump. Women who voted for Hillary Clinton thinking “the Day has come,” have been in tears and protesters have marched in the streets.

Trump’s supporters have been quiet. They voted for change, but they can’t know what kind of change they’re going to get. It remains to be seen whether a man who campaigned with hate can govern with respect.

David Remnick writes in The New Yorker, “The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism.” He says, “On January 20, 2017, we will bid farewell to the first African-American President—a man of integrity, dignity, and generous spirit—and witness the inauguration of a con who did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety.”

Let’s hope he’s wrong.

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