We have not had an acceptable run the last four years. He won… the preening orange peacock. We were forced to live with the results, accepting the conclusions that the bad guys won the election and had a right to rule over us.
They took the economy that Obama had repaired after Bush crashed it and reached new heights, that benefitted only the richest among THEM. And then they crashed it again. Even worse, with more carnage and pain.
And they took the pandemic-survival playbook that Bush requested and Obama perfected enough to avert a horrible Ebola pandemic and tore it up, firing the the response team in Homeland Security because Obama put it together. That worked out well… for people who don’t like black people or Hispanics.
We impeached him, but couldn’t remove him. We investigated him, but let him get away with all the crimes, especially abuse of power, that we uncovered. How is that fair to those of us who never committed a crime, but suffered from his handling of taxation and immigration and national security?
So, what have we learned? I have learned that friends in Iowa who questioned Obama’s birth certificate and called Obama “Black Hitler” will claim I have never been respectful towards their president, and I should be ashamed of myself. And I have learned they can tell me what dramatic irony means… as a term from high school literature class with Mr. Sorum. But they don’t live it… or acknowledge that other people, me for example, are forced to.
Catch a Falling Star 
I have learned that it is best not to let such things get to me in an emotional way. Hating the bad guy makes your own life worse than it would otherwise have been. Since hate clouds the vision, it makes it more difficult to be rid of him.
And you have to get along with the people who supported him or you sink into hating half the country. That’s a lot of hate accomplishing nothing but encouraging hate in return.
Lincoln did not tell the North to go and piss on those Confederate bastards after the war was over. He was all about binding wounds and getting on with healing. Malice towards non and charity towards all.
Oh, yes. I learned the lesson you speak of in 2016. My frustration is in not being able to teach it to others.
Dehumanizing people because they voted for someone loathesome is not justified, no matter hoe confident you are of your opinion.
I hope you don’t think I hate anyone I disagree with about politics. I am not doing any of the in-your-face posts on Facebook that I endured in 2016. I am glad Trump did not win. But my conservative friends are still my friends. At least, I hope they don’t hate me now for being on the winning side of the election for a change.