A few days ago, the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, one of the greatest trophies in professional sports. As always, when the final buzzer sounded, the winning team celebrated and the losing team remained on the ice, stunned. Some wept unashamedly.
But then followed a hockey tradition that has never failed to move me. Both teams, after having beaten their opponents’ brains out game after game, lined up to shake hands. Some spoke, some hugged, some did neither, but they all knew they were repeating and respecting a ritual they had observed since they were kids.
Many decades ago, when I was young, it was understood that learning how to lose with grace was part of “manliness.” That sexist term is now outdated, but the underlying principle still stands: Part of being an adult is accepting defeat. Somehow this critical life lesson has eluded Donald Trump. His worst epithet is “loser.” Losing, for him, is impossible.I tried to imagine how ludicrous it would have been if the losing team had consisted of Donald Trumps. They would not only refuse to shake hands, they would demand an investigation into whether the scorekeepers had added up the goals wrong. They might even find their own slate of “scorekeepers” to announce that they were the winners. That — and worse — is how things work in Trump world.
Don’t hardcore Trump supporters understand the terrible lesson of such childishness? What kind of American president petulantly boycotts the inauguration of their successor?
Please come up with a candidate who is a decent human being.
— Herb Berkowitz
Anchorage
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