The stages of grief...

Are some Democrats reaching acceptance?

As our liberal scribbler used to demand in the run up to election day: the right would feel "devastation" when Hillary Clinton was elected President. As it turned out, it was left who got to feel "devastation" when Donald Trump was elected President.

What's interesting to watch from afar is how quickly some liberals have moved through the stages of grief, and how some appear to be just getting started.

1) Denial - Quite obviously this one was certainly prevalent the night of the election, where a subdued CNN team continued to hold off calling states that others had calleed, while repeating over and over that Clinton still had an Electoral College lead. Many people went to bed, still hoping to wake up to good news. Not too terribly surprisingly, it has continued for many who demand that "Donald Trump is not my President" and it's even more prevalent with those already arguing for immediate impeachment hearings. Keith Olbermann has volunteered himself to lead the "resistance" (or perhaps it's better to suggest he is leading the denial).

2) Anger - Well some went directly to this stage. Watch Van Jones, and how close his head came to exploding on election night, when it became evident that Trump was going to win. Apparently Jones wasn't bothering with denial, and shot straight to anger. I still feel a lot of this out there, and I have a feeling it will continue to last.

3) Bargaining - This is what you see when people start to obsess about how things could have been different and how they can be different in the future. In this case, you see the left justify the loss as both out of their control (FBI, Electoral College) and as something that could have easily been prevented (better candidate, better strategy). Some still demand that it was the evil forces of racism and that somehow those 5000 estimated KKK members were the difference in the election. Either way, it's difficult for the left to imagine that Donald Trump beat their candidate straight up. So they spend lots of time coming up with a reasonable alternative (in their minds) for his win, and very simple changes they can make to turn the tide. Listening to a less smug Bill Maher pointing out very obvious, easy to change behavior that could have made a difference is a manner in which he can personally promise to behave a little better in the future, if that's what it takes to win elections again.

4) Depression - Many, especially your beautiful snowflake liberals, went straight to the Play-doh, hot chocolate, and counseling. This comes from the realization that your view of the country and the world is not necessarily shared by everyone, and the forces that disagree with you are now in control. The fact that much of what you saw as progress might be stripped away (or at least pushed to the back burner) causes issues with your own self importance. The fact that you no longer wield any power to push your views (while those you pushed against are now in control) is very hard. In fact, it can be seen as quite "devastating".

5) Acceptance - There are some within the liberal ranks who are looking to use this election as a wake up call. These people have accepted what happened, and are looking for the best way foreword. They instinctively understanding that this election was not a fluke, and they understand that having Obama at the top was masking the fact that the Democrats have been becoming the minority Party at every other level. Most importantly, they understand the need to make consequential changes to turn things around for the Party moving forward. At this point, they may come across a lot of resistance from those still in the other stages. Those who still deny that Trump won legitimately, still argue that it was a fluke, still are mad at how they believe racism stole the day, still believe that they just need to tweak an otherwise solid core, or are simply too messed up emotionally to come to terms with it.