Hillary Clinton's loss dealt a blow of defeat that shook many of the country's liberals to the core, while the frenzied Trump presidency that followed provided new material for outrage on a seemingly hourly basis: the disgust many experienced at Trump's failure to address Harvey's victims in Texas is only this week's iteration—before that, there was the Russia probe, the surprise firing of former FBI director James Comey, the travel ban on six Muslim majority countries, and the list goes on.
During a presidency teeming in outrage, Obama's letter is a reminder that America is not defined by one presidency or another. Instead, the founding principle of a democracy is represented exactly in the moment when the power of one president shifts into the hands of another. While it might be easy to get caught up in the latest scandal, it could be more useful to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Being sandwiched between one inauguration and the next doesn't mean there's no movement—instead, it's exactly the right time to think about what we really want our democracy to do.