Donald Trump swearing-in ceremony

During the Trump Accession to the Presidency (TAP), it seemed like everywhere you turned the Mainstream Media (MSM) was celebrating the Peaceful Transfer of Power (PTP).

How come?

According to AOL’s Newsy, it was because “[a]head of the election, Trump fueled concerns that a peaceful transition might not happen when he suggested he might not concede the election if Hillary Clinton won.”

But Clinton didn’t win, and her concession of the election was never in question. So forget that explanation.

Actually, it just was hard for the MSM to think of anything else to celebrate about the TAP but the PTP. Not only are they (or, to be honest, we) “among the most dishonest people on earth,” as President Trump says,  but also among the most ignorant.

From listening to us, you’d think that the PTP was a singular achievement of the U.S. of A., a veritable mark of American Exceptionalism.

As if a whole lot of countries haven’t been managing the PTP quite well for some time thank you. For instance England, from which the U.S. of A. separated by way of a non-peaceful transfer of power in 1783, has been doing the PTP since the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

And that’s not to mention the fact that the PTP doesn’t always work out so well.

Fortunately, no less a personage than Pope Francis gave us a heads up on this last Friday in an interview with the Spanish daily El País.

Asked about the citizens’ malaise in Europe and America of which “Trump’s case is the most noteworthy,” the pope responded with a discourse about the kind of populism that leads fearful people to turn to a strongman.

Hitler didn’t steal the power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people. That is the risk. In times of crisis, we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me. Let’s look for a savior who gives us back our identity and lets defend ourselves with walls, barbed-wire, whatever, from other peoples that may rob us of our identity. And that is a very serious thing.

So once upon a time, the PTP gave us the most notorious ruler in modern history. A reasonable conclusion is that the PTP doesn’t mean much if the power is transferred to a would-be savior who abuses it.

I suggest we put the celebration on hold for a while.