Gracious Acceptance

Many of my Democrat friends seem concerned that tens of millions of people haven't graciously accepted Joe Biden's elevation to president. 

"Come on," they say earnestly, "you can't honestly believe that the election was a fraud. You guys have to get past this. You're sore losers."

I smile when that or a similar sentiment is voiced, secretly amazed at the lack of self-awareness evidenced by the comment. 

"So ..." I respond calmly but with evident sarcasm, "you're asking me to be like you guys in 2016? You guys immediately accepted Trump's win, didn't you? No one in your party suggested that the Russians stole the election, right? No Democrat advocated Trump's impeachment on inauguration day, did they? And gosh, dozens of Democrats in Congress didn't boycott Trump's inauguration because you guys were the epitome of 'gracious acceptance.' Your party didn't spend four long years trying to investigate and then impeach Trump and come up empty? And I'm confused ... wasn't it you guys who coined the idea of Resistance?

Silence. Then, "But ... but, this is different?"

Me, "How?"

Silence. Then, "You're just sore losers."

Newt Gingrich writes about his lack of gracious acceptance:

For more than four years, the entire establishment mobilized against the elected president of the United States as though they were an immune system trying to kill a virus. Now, they are telling us we are undermining democracy.

You have more than 74 million voters who supported President Trump despite everything — and given the election mess, the number could easily be significantly higher. The truth is tens of millions of Americans are deeply alienated and angry.

If Mr. Biden governs from the left — and he will almost certainly be forced to — that number will grow rapidly, and we will win a massive election in 2022.

Given this environment, I have no interest in legitimizing the father of a son who Chinese Communist Party members boast about buying. Nor do I have any interest in pretending that the current result is legitimate or honorable. It is simply the final stroke of a four-year establishment-media power grab. It has been perpetrated by people who have broken the law, cheated the country of information, and smeared those of us who believe in America over China, history over revisionism, and the liberal ideal of free expression over cancel culture.

I write this in genuine sorrow, because I think we are headed toward a serious, bitter struggle in America. This extraordinary, coordinated four-year power grab threatens the fabric of our country and the freedom of every American.

I hope Gingrich's last sentence is an overstatement, but I fear it isn't. 

As I have stated many times in this blog, Democrats tend to be masters of psychological projection. They accuse their opponents of the very things they themselves are doing. When they suggest that the reaction of many Americans to the past four years, culminating in the recent election, is a "threat to Democracy," they're projecting their own actions during the past four years onto those who will not buy into their narrative.