Let me put it a different way.

You are free to petition for a recount, and I understand why folks are doing it. I also understand why people have a hard time accepting the election results; so do I. But if your efforts fail, if you exhaust every measure to overturn the results, what then?

Donald Trump will be inaugurated President in January. There's no saying for sure what he'll do, since politicians always make false promises to get elected, but it's a safe bet that he will wreak havoc on the government's ability to function and attack civil rights. But we can fight back, at the state and local level, and through mutual aid, organizing, protest, and disobedience. We can refuse to tolerate abuses of our rights.

And what happens if you win? The MAGA movement will still exist, the anti-trans movement will still exist, and they will be galvanized, thinking that the election was stolen from them. They'll still have power in other areas of government; people in Texas, Oklahoma, and other red states are already having to fight for their rights in all the ways I'm describing, and they'll still have to.

I don't want you to pin all of your hopes on overturning the election, and then be utterly defeated when that fails. I want this tragedy, and the probable actions of the Trump administration, to radicalize people rather than lead them to despair. And while you should take some time to grieve, the sooner you take action, and prepare for the future, the better.