Peaceful transition of power?

One of the hallmarks of our storied Republic is the historical peaceful orderly transition of power from an outgoing to an incoming Presidential Administration. Of course, this peaceful transition of power is not just a literal military issue, but to a large degree a basic fundamental thought process that Republican or Democrat, ultimately we are all Americans and it's in the Country's best interest for everyone to work together to ensure that an incoming President is given full cooperation and is given the best possible chance for success.

At least it was a hallmark of our society prior to 2017.

Very recently the NY Times reported some very incredible charges regarding the variety of ways that the Obama Administration was working to undermine the incoming Trump administration. The Times reported about intercepted communications that was passed around. They reported that the Obama administration was declassifying information that may have been troublesome for the new team, in order to encourage leaks. The Times mentioned that the outgoing administration had left "bread crumbs" so that new people would be pulled into certain directions. The Times even went so far as to say that Obama appointees were working against the new Administration.  Moreover, there is suggestion that the Democrats in the Senate have been and still are purposely delaying the confirmation of new appointees so that the old Obama appointees could stick around to do as much damage as possible.

Now what I find almost equally as alarming as the fact that our traditions regarding transition of power may have come to a screeching halt... is the manner in which the NY Times reported on all of this. There was no outrage or even much negative being reported about the actions of undermining the new President. Rather the Times was reporting on this as if it is normalized political strategy. That this is all part of an acceptable means for the previous President to remain relevant in the political and governing aspects of the Country.  

Ironically, it's the NY Times that seems to be one of the most vocal critics of the Trump charge that Obama was abusing his power by intercepting conversations of him and some of his campaign team prior to the election. They are calling it a "conspiracy theory". Of course most of that theory can be traced right back to the reports that they have been making regarding the previous President's behavior.

I wonder out loud if this is actually how these people think. That the sort of things that the Obama administration put in place to undercut the Trump administration are perfectly acceptable political tactics... and that anyone who suggests differently is part of a broad conspiracy theory.