JOE STRAUS: Trump’s intransigence “dishonors our democracy.”

Given the turbulence of the last four years, it was somewhat predictable that we would arrive here: The president is refusing to acknowledge he lost his race for re-election and is threatening both the substantive and symbolic transfer of power to the new administration the American people have chosen to lead our country.

But even the predictable can be alarming. Elections belong to the people, and candidates honor the very principles of our electoral system when they accept and respect the people’s wishes. The president’s refusal to bless an orderly transition dishonors our democracy and the voters who keep it functioning.

For the good of the country they have sworn to lead, defeated presidents have historically accepted their loss and pledged a smooth transition going forward. The defeated presidents who offer words of congratulations and cooperation to their successors are no doubt devastated by the results, but they also recognize the need for Americans and the world to witness an orderly and peaceful transfer of power.

In the note he left in the Oval Office for President Bill Clinton, who had defeated him after one term, President George H.W. Bush said, “You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting

hard for you.”

President Donald Trump’s decision not to allow for a full transition to President-elect Joe Biden could have dangerous consequences. Biden and his team have not been getting all

the briefings and other information incoming administrations receive. This could affect not only our standing in the world but also the new administration’s ability to effectively combat the coronavirus from the day Biden

takes office.

Trump’s reluctance to accept the results will also cause some Americans to see Biden as an illegitimate leader, driving yet another wedge between us at a time when we should be working to come together. Presidents come and go, and while they are all consequential figures, none is bigger than the office or the democratic ideals we expect them to uphold. There is no more American ideal than respecting the will of the people, regardless of whether we agree with their verdict.

We cannot force the current president to accept the election results graciously, but we can determine whether we provide a willing audience for his cynicism.

There are big debates coming as the new administration assumes office — weighty questions about the size of government, America’s role in the world, and how we get control of the pandemic that has controlled us for so much of the past year. It is entirely appropriate to have vigorous disagreements on these and many other issues. Even at times when our leaders and our citizens disagree over matters of public policy, the United States moves forward.

After a prolonged and contentious election, this is what we should all be working toward: a country that comes together, tries to find common purpose, wishes success for the new administration and other election winners, and engages in good faith debates about the best ways to solve serious challenges. Now is the time to embrace, and not retreat from, these time-honored traditions of our democratic system.

Getty Images file photo Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton visit the Oval Office in 2005. The two ex-presidents modeled the peaceful transfer of power so necessary in our democracy.