ArcaMax

To be fair, intelligence sources say ample evidence shows that Russians, possibly with President Vladimir Putin's blessing, sewed serious mischief by hacking U.S. emails. But, so far, officials assure us that no actual votes were changed.

Without hard evidence to the contrary, I'm ready to grit my teeth and accept Trump as our legitimate president for the sake of national unity, just as I hoped America would unite behind President Obama, whether they voted for him or not.

I also suspect that Lewis, not being a stupid man by any means, knows Trump is "legitimate," at least in the constitutionally legal sense. But moral legitimacy? That's in the eye of the beholder.

Therefore, I understand the rough justice to Trump Lewis' sentiments present. A lot of hard feelings endure from Trump's relentless challenges to Obama legitimacy as president. Once again, it appeared, a man of color was being told to walk a longer mile than his predecessors, who all happened to be white.

Trump didn't help himself with his Twitter tirade about Lewis during the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, no less. "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district," he tweeted , "which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to ... mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

What's really sad is Trump's attempt to dismiss Lewis as "all talk, talk, talk," which only reveals the big-bucks developer and reality TV host's ignorance of the landmark civil rights improvements that Lewis helped to bring about at great personal sacrifice, a quality Trump has yet to show in his own public life.

And Lewis' district, which includes most of Atlanta, has some impoverished sections but it also includes Emory University, Morehouse University and upscale neighborhoods like the famous Buckhead.

Forty percent of the district's residents have college degrees, according to 2015 Census Bureau figures cited by PolitiFact. That's way ahead of the state average of 28.8 percent and the national average of 29.8 percent.

But the existence of social and economic success in a district represented by a liberal black man apparently doesn't fit in Trump's urban narrative, which seems to have been shaped by 1970s black-exploitation movies.

Trump seldom has let facts get in the way of a good smear job, and he's not about to stop now, even as he is about to become president.

Still, as good Americans, we should support our newly elected president in good faith, even as we criticize his ways -- and look ahead to the next election.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)

(c) 2017 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.