If democracy matters to us

Almost everyone I know considers themselves a friend, family member – parent, spouse, sibling, child, cousin or other relative – an employee, teammate, buddy, sewing circle or book club member or coffee klatch participant. Very few people define themselves as citizens or patriots. Most of us are reluctant Republicans or Democrats, too often wedged into choosing the lesser of two evils or, as Ralph Nader famously put it, picking between Tweedledee and Tweedledum come election time.

Almost none of us think government at any level is so broke that the tool required to fix it is a gun or mace or baseball bat or flagpole or that the only option is to take those implements to the national or state capital and use them against the police and elected officials. Few of us doubt the integrity of our county or state election staffs and only a handful believe the courts are crooked.

And yet, one year after thousands stormed the nation’s capital, attacking police and seeking to hang congressional representatives in a revolt to overturn the 2020 election in the insurrection of Jan. 6¸ 2021, too many of us across the country are too quiet. The patriotic position is properly outrage at treason. That is what that revolt was, an attempted overthrow of the nation’s laws and federal government.

All citizens need to be horrified that sedition – that old fashioned word for takeover of the government – was in the hearts and minds and ardently carried out at the hands of people who have given up on the rest of us, who do not accept facts – the truth – who do not believe in our system of government or trust our honesty or integrity.

Your local newspaper is fulfilling its duty to you, fellow citizens, in insisting that democracy is not a partisan issue, that it is the responsibility of citizens in every hamlet and town to pay attention. We are not indivisible. Many are working not only to divide us but to win power, to rule, not govern, by foul means because they cannot win elections fairly. The very real fragility of our democracy is exposed, if we will only look toward and not away.

The future of life as we know it is in our hands. The activists waving signs alone will not save us. It is middle America, the quiet middle, who will go along or speak up and insist on justice. More than lies are being spread. A movement based on violence is growing. Turn your back on the revolt, be disinterested, don't believe it, see it as a partisan food fight, but walk away from this reality at your peril and your family's and your futures.

It is that serious. This nation remains a democracy only if we are willing to keep it alive, live the process of being democratic. A sizable group of your countrymen are working assiduously to install Donald Trump as president. They are as serious as a heart attack. They are not democratic and they will ride roughshod over your rights and people's lives. Each of us has to decide. What are you going to do about their beliefs and their actions?

That massive middle wanting to get along, wanting to stay out of things, stay out of “it,” not get involved, those not wanting to be prodded, not wanting to participate, those upset to be reading this editorial: You.

We call it the democratic process. That means acting on an ongoing basis. Democracy is not a sign in the yard, a bumper sticker on the car or a ballot mailed back twice a year. Democracy grows in the light of day. It needs your eyes, ears and critical voice. You have to participate.

If all you do is watch, you will see that you are a part of your fragile democracy shattering as your staying out of it puts you in the middle of revolt becoming true.

In the meantime, bring forth evidence of election rigging on a scale that will change the outcome in a single state that court judges will approve and this newspaper will pay $10,000 for it.