Get over it, America!
Like it or not, Donald Trump is our president-elect.
I did not vote for him or for Hillary Clinton, but as a citizen of this country, I accept the results of our voting process and I will pledge my support for Trump to "make America great again."What I find disturbing is the meltdown of Clinton advocates and Trump haters who have protested with vulgar signs in New York, blocked traffic in Chicago, thrown objects at police and damaged a community park in Oregon. If Clinton had won, white supremacy groups had threatened to burn down the country. We all knew that half this country would not be pleased with the winner.Get over it, America. Men and women are crying in public. People are threatening to run to Canada. Dormers and Gloomers are predicting the end of the world. The election is over, but the political war between liberals and conservatives rages on.Stop your pointless protesting. You are given that right, but your actions are divisive and will not help America come together. You're proving you can't handle failure. You are a sore loser. You're the ones who quit the team because the coach didn't put you in the starting lineup. When you were undeserving kids, you were given participation trophies for accomplishing nothing. You're the students whose parents blamed the teacher when you got bad grades. You were those teenagers who needed three days of counseling when your girlfriends or boyfriends dumped you.The masks are off your faces and now we see the truth. You have changed us from a nation of warriors to into a nation of wimps. You have populated our neighborhoods with narrow-minded knuckleheads. You and your entitled crybabies have turned us into a country of whiners and will-nots.Our government must share the blame as to why we are a people divided. Communication is the key to assimilation. Since citizens are not required to learn English, language barriers separate and alienate our cultures. Religions, too, have failed to integrate. Different beliefs have split us further apart.In the sports arena, we teach our children how to win with grace and how to lose with dignity. In my perfect America, after a hard-fought political campaign, we would simulate the tradition that ends the Stanley Cup final game in professional hockey. After two opponents battle vigorously to win the Cup, one wins, the other loses. Both teams meet at center ice with genuine handshakes, congratulations and condolences. In sports, we call this sportsmanship. In a moral sense, this ritual demonstrates respect for the participants, no matter what the outcome.And yet we ask where's the respect in politics? Blame Trump and Clinton and many local politicians who ridiculed their opponents during the debates rather than focus on promoting their platforms. When I see a politician attack an opponent in an advertisement, I refuse to vote for the perpetrator, who at the end of the ad says, "and I approve this message." Well, I don't. In fact, I will vote for anyone who gives me some good ideas and shows respect for the opposite point of view.One reason I chose not to vote for Trump was because he stereotyped certain cultures. But now we must give him a chance to bring all of us together as "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."Listen up, America. I'm going to sing these words to you from a Rolling Stones song because you didn't get what you asked for."You can't always get what you want, well, if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."Grow up, America. Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. Stand up and support the most influential leader of the free world instead of waving senseless signs that can't change the result. Give him the opportunity that he has earned.If Trump fails us, then let's vote him out in four years.Get real, America. Intolerance and disrespect are not to be blamed on this man who will sit in the White House.Blame it on your house if you didn't learn to accept failure and to respect everyone.Rich Strack can be reached at