I learned the famous saying by Grantland Rice, probably in junior high school: “It matters not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game.” That was a lesson for life. Donald Trump never learned it. He’s a sore loser.

Hillary Clinton lost a far closer race than Trump. She collected three million votes more than Trump. She lost the electoral college because of razor-thin wins by Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. She didn’t stamp her feet and whine, as Trump is doing now. She didn’t demand a recount in the states she lost. She conceded graciously. She called Trump and congratulated him on election night. She said in her concession speech the next day that one of the hallmarks of American democracy is the peaceful transfer of power. That’s class.

Many years ago, I took my young children to Constitution Hall in Philadelphia. The young Park Ranger who was our guide said, “The most remarkable event in American history happened here. George Washington relinquished his power at the end of his second term and turned the Presidency over to his successor. The world had never seen the leader of a nation step aside without being forced out. That was the true beginning of American democracy. The peaceful transfer of power.”

The transition has begun. Biden is choosing his cabinet. Trump has not conceded, despite the fact that he clearly lost the electoral college and the popular vote. He is still sending Rudy Guiliani out to make ludicrous claims about fraud. Trump’s lawsuits have been laughed out of federal and state courts over 30 times.

Trump and his personal lawyers are a national disgrace, as Chris Christie said. They not only are pursuing baseless claims, they are undermining our democracy and making us an international laughing stock. So are the leaders of the Republican Party, who have encouraged Trump in his efforts to undermine the 2020 election. Nothing shames the Republican sycophants, not even when the federal government’s cyber security administrator was fired by Trump for telling a simple truth: the 2020 election was the most secure, free, and fair election in history.