Trump protesters need to move on

In his defense of protesters, Stephen Malm (Feb. 3), states that we fight because we are driven by a moral imperative, justice, equality and dignity. Most Americans would embrace such values, but is that really what is going on with our protesters?

Perhaps what we see on the streets is not a moral struggle, but rather the second stage of grief being expressed. The states of grief are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. On Election Day, we saw much denial in response to President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the Electoral College.

Many excuses were proposed to explain the impossible, such as, the Russians did it, etc. Few acknowledged that they had completely misread the working class.

But, we are beyond denial now! Anger is a powerful emotion and often finds its expression in vulgarities and often senseless violence (think Berkeley)! It appears that the real “moral imperative” at work here is the defense of a liberal ideology, strengthened by a healthy dose of guilt, because they were overconfident.

Those of us who are not struggling with election grief, can only hope that our friends and children will move quickly to the acceptance stage, so we can begin working together to make our country better for all.

This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Trump protesters need to move on."