I share all this because I understand why so many good people voted for Donald Trump. Decent Americans were at his rally Wednesday, for all kinds of reasons. They had questions about the election, they were sad about the President-elect Biden reality, they love free speech and religion and want to see them protected and have many fears about the future.

On Wednesday, a dear beloved friend took issue with me saying I understood how an “earnest American” could get worked up by Trump’s words. I know he never would and neither would countless others in attendance. I’m an earnest American, too, and would never mean that as an insult. But I worry about the people who are so desperately buying into so many conspiracy theories that they are on the edge. It’s not hard to be on the edge these days, so we don’t need Donald Trump adding kerosene to the scene of a fire he didn’t start, but has made worse.

These are difficult days for our country. As we face what had been promised as a peaceful transition of power, we need to respect one another and our difference of opinion on prudential judgments and fundamentals, or it’s only going to get worse. The Left shouldn’t be purging people who voted for Donald Trump, or believe in traditional marriage, or oppose abortion, or a whole host of not-conventionally approved views. And those of us who have some fundamentals in common ought to be ready to work together again for the common good in opposition to bad ideas.