The presidential election has been fraught with high emotion. There are people who are ecstatic that Obama won. There are people who are despondent. So despondent that they run over a spouse who didn't vote. And now comes a story of a man who was so upset over Obama's victory that he reportedly took his life. A man in Key West, Henry Hamilton, had already threatened before the election that if Obama won, he "was not going to be around." He made good on his threat, taking an overdose of prescription meds and, for good measure, scrawling "F--- Obama!" on his will. But there's more to this than a sore loser. Let's look closer.

Hamilton owned a tanning salon business that had recently closed. But instead of chalking this up to the fact that maybe people in Florida have enough sun and don't need a fake tan, or perhaps that people are tanning less in general, or perhaps that tanning salons have been linked to cancer, he blames Obama.

Additionally, reportedly bottles of the anti-anxiety med Xanax and the schizophrenia med Seroquel were found on the scene. So ... there's that.

Hamilton was found when a friend became concerned about not hearing from him and police came to his condo -- the same condo he shared with his partner, Michael Cossey. Cossey was at the condo, but hadn't seen his partner the night before because he'd been out. When he came home, he fell asleep on the couch and didn't notice that his partner was dead in the bedroom. Could there have been some trouble in the relationship that was also stressing Hamilton out?

It's interesting that he was living with a man. Reports don't identify his sexual orientation, but do refer to Cossey as his "partner." Since Obama is certainly more the party of gay rights than Romney was, his hatred of Obama is a little perplexing. But I don't think this guy was thinking very clearly -- I mean, Obama is going to be president whether he's around or not.

I know what it's like to be upset over the president in office. I lived through eight years of Dubya. Somehow I managed not to kill myself or anyone else. There's no doubt the country is struggling -- but a lot of countries are right now. America is actually in better shape than most.

If you're truly concerned about where the country is headed, run for local office, or support politicians you believe in. Or just try to help out your fellow man, like what people are doing in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Anything but off yourself or someone else -- or sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Maybe go live in a third world country or real oppressive regime for awhile. You'll appreciate America when you get back. Trust me.

Have you felt despondent over the election?

 

Image via BeckyF/Flickr