Plea Bargaining

AFTER THE CHESS MATCH, after the tennis match, the football game, or the election, proper behavior and fundamental decency require that the two former opponents congratulate each other and shake hands. It is acceptable to accuse the winner of cheating only when the accusation is accompanied by very strong evidence of it. That is where Donald Trump and his supporters fail their country, themselves, and their presumed moral values, not only in the certainty with which they speak, but in complete the lack of evidence supporting even the possibility, let alone any certainty of a stolen election. Redundantly though this point has been made on this essay website, it bears repeating, often, for its importance. We offer a plea bargain. Rather than calling Trump and Trumpsters "traitors", as heretofore, we agree to reduce the charge to "bad citizenship", (not "bad citizens", to distinguish bettween a moral lapse and pervasive characteristics). In return we ask only that the accused agree to reduce their claim from "election stolen, no question", to "It seems possible if not probable that the election was stolen from Trump". This quite generous offer will expire soon, so now is the time to shop and save at our bargain baasement plea bargain store! I mentioned to one of my neighbors that to me, Americans today seem surly, angry, and stressed, to accompany the usual arrogance and incivility. She rsponded that she agreed, and that these trends seemed to her to be most pronounced among the younger generation, which, she asserted, "has a chip on its shoulder". I begged to differ, and said that people of my generation, the "oldsters" behave no better, and that their unpleasantness is tangible both in real time and online. Online ugliness seems to favor no particular age, gender identity, race, or religious affiliation, but somehow, the evangelical Christian Trump community might deserve special attention.