Story highlights Timothy Stanley says this isn't the end of American democracy; what's happening now is an affirmation of it, and the Constitution will make sure things go ok

Timothy Stanley is a historian and columnist for Britain's Daily Telegraph. He is the author of "Citizen Hollywood: How the Collaboration Between L.A. and D.C. Revolutionized American Politics." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) When President Barack Obama suggested that Americans might soon be on Mars, who knew that he'd be flooded with volunteers? The victory of Donald Trump last night has many liberals saying that they don't want to live on this planet anymore. Social media is in meltdown. The website for Canadian immigration crashed.

Timothy Stanley

Everyone should calm down. The last few hours have actually shown that the transition from Obama to Trump will be smoother than folks fear. Trump's victory speech was his best yet: gracious and even touching.

Hillary Clinton took awhile to concede, but when she did she urged the country to get behind its president-elect. And Obama committed himself to a fine transition. All of this is evidence that the office of the president is bigger than the occupant, and governing functions at a higher level than campaigning. Trump is on his way to the White House. Now the Constitution kicks in.

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He will be shown respect. He will also be scrutinized. The media will be on his back 24/7, and he'll give them plenty to report. The Republicans will try to bend him to their will. Although Paul Ryan expressed his thanks to Trump for the GOP control of Congress, the reality is that they have subtly different agendas and will likely fight over much.

The courts will frustrate any overreach. The 2018 midterms will cast judgment. Those who compare this situation to Germany in 1933 are not only grossly exaggerating, to an offensive degree, but they misunderstand the nature of Germany at that time. It had barely tasted democracy, its institutions were weak. America's are strong.