That Never-Ending Hate

Less than one week after Donald Trump’s stunning election as our 45th president, several things have become crystal-clear — unfortunately.

One of them is that no matter what Trump has said or done since his election, those who opposed him will continue their opposition in ways that, frankly, seem mindless.

Let’s start with what Trump’s done. He gave a gracious victory speech. He’s had a long and substantive meeting with President Obama. He’s appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” and looked and sounded, for all the world,. presidential. During that interview, he said he’d like to keep some parts of Obamacare, he praised Hillary Clinton, and he said he’d work to deport several million criminal illegal immigrants — which is exactly what Obama has done.

He also told anyone who happens to support him — and who engages in  hateful behavior or speech —  to “stop it.”

In response, the “mainstream media” — including the New York Times and the Washington Post — unleashed, within moments of his election, a never-ending series of anti-Trump op-ed pieces and “straight” news articles. In effect, they are trying to do what they said Trump would do if Clinton won — trying to de-legitimize the election.

These are the same news media organs that assured their liberal readers that Clinton was a shoo-in — that all the polls showed it — and that Trump would be relegated to the trash heap. And now, with their actions, the news media seem to have learned absolutely nothing about why Clinton lost, or why those in the media “never saw it coming.”

Of course, the news media aren’t along in excoriating Trump. We have all those protesters in those big American cities, hitting the pavement to chant that Trump is “not my president.” Well, now. Who, exactly will their president be? No one says they don’t have a right to protest, but wouldn’t it be a bit more forceful if protesters actually waited until they had something to shout against — in other words, waited until Trump actually took some actions?

But, no, the hatred in this country is too pervasive, too deep, too widespread, for any “come together” movement. It’s just asking too much, apparently, for people to want to unite the United States, even for a few months after voters have chosen their new president. It’s too much, apparently, for those who oppose Trump to hope that he is at least moderately successful as president — because, after all, if any president is “successful,” so is the country.

Nope. That’s way too much to ask in this country that’s so filled with hate.