The Next Test

Unlike some of the hysteria I’ve been reading the editors of the Wall Street Journal offer good advice:

Mr. Trump’s job, like any President-elect, is to provide confidence and reassurance. He set the right tone in his remarks Wednesday morning, pledging to unite the country and unleash every American’s “potential.”

One of the first tests will be his personnel decisions, starting with his picks for Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State, as well as how he staffs the West Wing. Does he surround himself with smart, sound people who know how to use the White House’s levers of power and who will tell him what he doesn’t know—as he did when he selected Mike Pence as his running mate? Or does he continue to rely on his own instincts and a small coterie of advisers?

After an intense and divisive campaign, Mr. Trump also sounded the right note of magnanimity toward Mrs. Clinton. He should go further and drop his campaign threats to investigate her and call off the Republicans in Congress.

and I see their instincts echo my own:

In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, in 1865, he appealed to his “fellow-countrymen” to work toward reconciliation and domestic peace, “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” The 16th President always repays attention, but his words seem particularly rewarding after a long night like Tuesday.

but I’m also thinking of Emily Dickinson:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

Abandon rancor and cynicism. Don’t lose hope.