Can classical liberalism in America be salvaged?  Some "helpful hints" are offered.

Classical liberalism is no longer recognizable on the American political landscape.  Its modus operandi has migrated to the far left of the bell curve of political ideology.  An ideological civil war has resulted.  Common cause has become a gaping chasm.  The time is long past due for the elitist left to recover from its anger and denial over recent election results, to stop regarding Trump's victory as a coup d'état, to stop espousing the total rejection of his presidency as the ultimate act of patriotism, and to look inside its own flawed infrastructure and so take measures to repair it.  To that end, the following suggestions are humbly offered:

- Put a lid on the self-righteousness.   Liberals' sanctimonious posturing, attitude of moral superiority, intolerance of the opinions and behavior of others, and conviction that their beliefs and actions are of greater virtue and compassion than those of anyone else are offensive and endow them with a well earned aura of closed-minded non-negotiability.  Liberals should try to be a bit more liberal.

- Ditch the groupthink.  People are individuals, not cloned members of groups.  Unethical, immoral, illegal, hateful, xenophobic behavior knows no socioeconomic stratum, race, or gender.  In which group does a black racist belong?  Broad brushstrokes are prejudicial.  Liberals' focus on identity politics has become a political anchor.

- Liberals should scuttle their "villain and victim" concept of social injustices.  It is an accusatory, knee-jerk construct that diverts attention from the true dynamics underlying social inequalities and promotes finger-pointing divisiveness rather than pragmatic problem-solving.  The NRA did not cause 4,368 people to be shot in Chicago in 2016.  The great recession was not caused by five bankers on Wall Street.  The Republican Party is not a bigger threat than ISIS.  Stop dueling with windmills.

- Liberals should cool their jets.  The reforms they seek will not be realized now, and probably not during their lifetime.  As "scientists," they should realize that inertia is the most powerful force in the universe, according to Newton (a real scientist).  This applies to social and cultural evolutionary change as well as to the physical forces of motion.  P.C., intimidation, sit-ins, protests, civil disturbances, riots, vandalism, and petulance will not accelerate their agenda.  Violent channeling of their unresolved subconscious anger won't win friends and influence people.  As long as those very natural human traits of group identity, nationalism, and self-interest continue to rear their ugly heads, attainment of the liberals' ultimate safe space – coexistence, brotherhood of man, and community of nations – will have to wait.

-Back off on the overreach.  Liberals' current focus and preoccupation on destroying a POTUS to the point of espousing his assassination, and casting his supporters as irrelevant evolutionary throwbacks – a campaign to advance and impose their own narrow agenda – precludes their ability to address a wider spectrum of socioeconomic issues.

The left needs to retreat to classic liberalism, to promote freedoms and equality of opportunity within the society, rather than striving to create a society in its own image, an image that too often flies in the face of human nature and natural law.  There is life outside the bubble.  Acknowledge it.  Deal with it.  Deplorable lives matter.

These thoughts are advanced in the spirit of unification and compromise.  I anticipate that they will not be so received.  But then, anything is possible.  The Cubs did make it to the World Series.