Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated tomorrow (Friday). Certainly, that is a day and an event that no serious person on any side of the political spectrum ever thought might be possible.
However, that is the reality that we have to deal with — and it is an outcome that every American unhesitatingly must accept.
There are many who say that Trump’s election was not “legitimate.” They cite the influence of the Russians, who hacked into the Democratic National Committee e-mails; the “fake” news items that routinely were spread by Russians and others during the campaign; and the actions of FBI Director James Comey, who disclosed a further investigation into Hilary Clinton’s e-mails while she was Secretary of State (which eventually turned out to be a non-issue) just one week before the election.
All of that may be true — but the bottom line is that Trump won the election because he accumulated more electoral votes than Hilary Clinton by winning certain key states. That’s our electoral system, and it has been that way since the country was founded — plain and simple. (And it never is going to change, by the way.)
To be sure, when Donald Trump raises his hand to take the oath of office tomorrow afternoon, he will enter the Oval Office as the most unpopular president in our history. Furthermore, Donald Trump’s routine invective has without a doubt been the most hate-filled (for lack of a better word) of any President in our history. He is rude, crude, crass, and vulgar.
However, he is our President. While some may feel that he himself may not be owed any respect, every American should agree that the office of President of the United States to which he was elected does.
There are battles to be fought on many issues, but Democrats and others who stoop to Trump’s level by hurling personal insults, etc. are playing his game. Whenever anyone wastes even a second of their breath on meaningless retorts to Trump, they not only demean themselves and the country, but they distract their attention, and the people’s, from the real issues.
Furthermore, rather than jumping the gun, so to speak, to automatically reject Trump’s policies in knee-jerk fashion, we urge our representatives in Congress to examine each one on its own merits — there may be some things Trump proposes that might be good for the country.
So let us stand at attention tomorrow and show our respect for what truly can be described as a sacred office in our democracy — not for Donald Trump’s sake, but for that of our country’s.