Throughout the nation, more than a million people in dozens of cities took to the streets Friday and Saturday, protesting the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. A few hundred — out of a nation of 325 million –engaged in violent confrontations with police.

It matters not whether the military, the political establishment, the rich and powerful or even those such as the news media who guide opinion favor  people who run for office in the United States. All that matters is that in a free and fair election, the winner will take office.

In many other nations, the will of the people is not necessarily the last word in national leadership. Take Gambia, for instance, where the country’s long-time leader this week finally gave up power months after losing his election and went into exile (with millions of the nation’s money in his pocket). That makes our peaceful transitions of power something of a “regular miracle,” as has been pointed out.

In quite a few other nations, unrest such as that displayed by anti-Trump demonstrators would be the kick-off for attempts to seize power by force.

Not here. Except for a few professional agitators and a handful of entertainment stars, the idea has not even been mentioned.

That just isn’t how Americans do things.

If anything, anti-Trump demonstrations are to be celebrated as a reaffirmation of our reverence for freedom of speech, even if you disagree with the protesters. They are, both for what they did and what they did not do, a demonstration of what makes the United States of America different.