By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It might be just me, but this period after the latest presidential election is about as mind-boggling as anything I ever have witnessed.

And, yes, that includes the period after the 2000 election that ended up being decided by a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that resulted in George W. Bush taking office as the 43rd president of the United States.

This is one takes the proverbial cake.

Donald Trump got thumped by Joe Biden. The president-elect has rolled up an impressive popular vote margin and a decent Electoral College majority to become the next president. As for Trump, well, he has managed to shower himself with embarrassment upon embarrassment with his petulant, boorish and childish refusal to recognize that he won’t be president after Jan. 20, when Joe Biden takes the oath to become President Biden.

Beyond that, he has endangered our very democracy by encouraging governors to overturn the results of the elections in their states … which they cannot do by law. Trump has denigrated the electoral process, asserting the existence of “massive” voter fraud where none exists. He has fought and lost 30-plus court battles. Meanwhile, states that Biden won are certifying the results, as are the states that Trump carried.

The way I see it, there is no way in the world that Donald Trump will attend President Biden’s inauguration. He will skulk off long before the new president takes his oath and begins the work of repairing the damage done  under Trump’s tenure as president.

I am left at this juncture to merely wish that the new president can finish his pre-oath-taking preparation — which should he should be able to do — and then get to work.

As for Donald John Trump … don’t let the door hit you in your backside, podnuh.

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A nation that has endured one of the most contentious, nastiest and falsehood-filled presidential campaigns in history is now being treated to a transition that occurs with one of the principals doing what he must do.

The other one is stonewalling. Why? Because he is alleging voter fraud that likely doesn’t exist.

President-elect Joe Biden has selected his White House chief of staff. Ron Klain is a longtime Biden confidant with vast experience in government operations. Klain now becomes the point man who will guide the president-elect to selecting his Cabinet and his key White House aides and advisers.

The other guy is the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who lost his bid for re-election by a significant and growing margin. Trump is going out with the same raucousness he exhibited when he took office four years ago.

Yes, Trump has been quiet in terms of his relentless tweeting habit. His stonewalling on the transition, though, puts the nation in potential national security peril. Donald Trump’s team won’t share intelligence briefings with the new president’s team, disallowing them access to information it will need as it prepares to plot strategies for guarding against potential threats from hostile nations.

So we’re left with a president-elect who is proceeding with a transition the way he normally would do it with a predecessor who is willing to cooperate fully.

To be candid, the manner that President-elect Joe Biden is employing to take office is far more preferable than the manner that Donald Trump is using to surrender it.

I believe we are witnessing in real time the differences in the way these men govern.

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

OK, it’s time for an admission.

I admit to being a sucker for what I had hoped would be a realization from Donald Trump — had circumstances dictated it — that he would bow out of the presidency with relative silence.

Not with class, dignity, decorum and grace, mind you. I thought he would simply say that “Joe Biden won; I lost. I will accept that and go on my way.” That’s all he had to say.

Donald Trump hasn’t said even that.

Oh, no. He is filing lawsuits left and right in states all across the country. He hasn’t called Biden to congratulate him. As a friend reminded me today, Trump hasn’t yet allowed the new president access to national security briefings, which is essential for a smooth transition from one presidency to the next one.

The peaceful transfer of power is likely to occur. I don’t expect there to be gunshots at the White House or on Capitol Hill when Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. What I had hoped for would be a semblance of the kind of traditional ceremony one sees in these moments.

You know what I mean. The Trumps welcoming the Bidens to the White House. The obligatory photo op meeting in the Oval Office. The two men saying publicly how they plan to cooperate. Trump pledging a seamless transition; Biden promising to ask his predecessor for advice as needs arise. The handshakes, the smiles … or what they refer to in newspaper circles as “grip and grin” photos.

We are getting none of that.

I didn’t expect Trump to offer the traditional concession speech. All I thought we might get would be a gritted-teeth admission that he lost.

My goodness, we have gotten none of it!

The impact of this hideous behavior from the lame-duck president could be devastating on our democracy. Nations around the world are going to look at us with even more skepticism as they watch the outgoing president challenge openly the very fabric of our democratic system of government.

My inclination to look for the good in individuals, even those who don’t necessarily deserve it, has been decimated by the behavior of a man about whom I should have known better.

I am ashamed of myself.