Remember when Democracy was not a dirty word?
Remember when the United States of America fought against and did not embrace the idea of having a dictator?
Remember when Hitler was not hailed as a good guy nor was he someone presidential candidates aspired to emulate?
Remember when women’s health care was between a woman and her doctor?
Remember when presidential candidates did not, as an incentive to followers, say “When I win, that will be the last time you will ever have to vote”?
Remember when it was not OK to disrupt elections and threaten election officials?
Remember when presidential candidates did not promise a blood bath if they lost?
Remember when people, you, me, our neighbors, saw through lies and rejected the liars?
We all remember those times, because those times were not that long ago. Those times are no longer with us. And who can say if they will come back ... ever?
Our challenge as citizens who value the society we have developed with its freedoms and its opportunities is: Save that society. It may be flawed. What isn’t? It may need work. What doesn’t? What it does not need is to be seen as having run its course, so it should be discarded as an experiment that does not work after a nearly 250 year trial. What we have works. It works because of the sacrifices that have been made for it.
We must meet this challenge this year.
Our country’s future is at stake.
Josh Joswick
Bayfield
