ARTICLE
At greater risk of provoking even more of the reader universe than I heard from last week, I'm writing one last time about this very wild presidential race. I was thinking if Bill White, one of the best columnists we've ever had in the Lehigh Valley, was doing one last column, what the heck, I'm taking one last shot, too. By the way, that's the last time you'll ever hear Bill White, Tony Iannelli and the word "column" in the same sentence. I am not worthy for sure. I want to first mention that I got some pushback last week when I stated how proud I was of my country. As of this week I'm even more proud. That's right, more proud! After a crazy, contentious presidential race that included name-calling, finger-pointing and all around political body-slamming, look what's happened since. Our president has invited the president-elect to the White House for a visit. He quickly accepted and the president, president-elect, the first lady and the future first lady had very cordial, respectful meetings. In the end, everyone laid down the swords and put the country first. They met, agreed to disagree on several issues, but they shook hands and were ready to move forward. The president asked the populace to support our president-elect and move on. They had a joint press session where they voiced mutual respect for each other. President Obama called for support of the new president. Read the original article here. Additionally, Hillary Clinton also gave a gracious concession speech and I fully respect her for that, given how rough this election was and how close the final outcome. Simply put, it hurts to lose when you're that close and it takes a big person to respectfully acknowledge the winner. So, the smooth transition has begun, at least for those who were in the arena fighting this tough election battle, working for votes and all around giving their life to win the support of the voting populace. Not so much for the millions of spectators who were emotionally caught in the crosshairs. Like with many close, contentious sporting events, the players leave the field spent and fans are left with a lot of emotional energy and regrets. So my friends on the left are somewhere between disheartened, angry and/or scared. They don't understand how anyone could want someone like Donald Trump leading our country. The minority community, the LBGT community and many others feel they're now at risk of losing the great strides they've made, friends may be deported, health care will end and on and on. Conversely, my friends on the right are downright giddy. They feel they got their country back, that things will dramatically change for the better, that countries will treat America with more respect, that recent executive orders will be reversed, that Obamacare will end, military support will improve and to coin a phrase, "America will be great again" Meanwhile, the national media is somewhere between shocked, embarrassed and rebooting. The New York Times is apologizing and pledging to be more fair going forward. CNN and others are treating Trump with much more respect lately and admitting "they missed it" by a mile. And lastly, the droves of celebrities who were moving to Canada are back peddling a bit and "rethinking" that strategy. And you know why all this is happening? Because this is still the best damn country on the planet! I've visited incredible places like Dubai, Turkey, China and more. By far, by far I said, this is the only place I ever wanted to call home. Like my Irish-Italian ancestors, I couldn't wait to be on American soil. For all its faults, for all the work that needs to be done, you're living in an incredible place at an incredible time. Let's hang onto it for our dear lives! Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. His column appears weekly on the Business Cycle. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org.