Opinion: Harris concedes? What happened to denying election results?

With grace and humility, Vice President Kamala Harris stood before the American people Wednesday and acknowledged that she lost the 2024 presidential election to the reelected Donald Trump.
“We must accept the results of this election,” Harris said, speaking at Howard University. “Earlier today I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition, and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.” 
First off, I forgot honorable political concessions were a thing that can be done in America. But more important, does this mean we on the liberal side of the fence don’t get a chance to storm the U.S. Capitol?
I was told by many reliable Republicans that the Trump-supporting rioters who stormed the building after Trump lost the last election were some combination of “patriots” or “tourists,” and I was very much looking forward to being a patriot-tourist myself. I even purchased a pitchfork, which I guess I’ll now have to either return or use to do whatever pitchforks do. 
This is all very strange. I haven’t heard Harris or her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, or any Democratic lawmakers accusing Republicans of cheating, or saying the election was rigged, or shouting things like “STOP THE STEAL!” and “CRIME OF THE CENTURY!”
After the 2020 election and the way Republicans fully accepted such reactions, I assumed it was our patriotic duty to deny the results of a free-and-fair election and holler and caterwaul and dress up in weird outfits and punch police officers and whatnot.
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Maybe I missed the memo calling all that stuff off?
I honestly don’t know what the heck Harris is doing. She stood up Wednesday and said: “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny.”
Madam Vice President, it was clearly established in the wake of President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory that any losing presidential candidate who truly loves this country is duty-bound to spend the next four years saying they won, ceaselessly claiming the election was stolen despite all evidence to the contrary, and raising money off their supporters by selling them cheaply made trinkets at exorbitant prices, all while feeding them lies and pandering to their basest fears.
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Yet you’re standing there admitting defeat, respectfully honoring the will of the American people and encouraging a peaceful transfer of power.
How can you ever hope to win elected office again if you abide by democratic norms and exist in a fact-based reality that puts others above yourself?
I’d spend more time being angry about Harris’ sense of decency, but I’m busy building a Lego model of the U.S. Capitol so I can patriotically storm it in the privacy of my own home.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk