Penning Thoughts

Widely-respected public figures have spoken out against the fear and doubt being generated by Donald Trump; fear that could cause us to make a calamitous choice in our presidential election on November 8.

Republican-appointed (by Pres. GHW Bush) former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, four years ago, warned us,

“What I worry about is [in a crisis]… some one person will come forward and say, ‘Give me total power and I will solve this problem. That is how the Roman Republic fell.”

“That is the way democracy dies.”

Former President Jimmy Carter, on October 19 told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “allegations of potential rigging of U.S. elections, as well as of widespread voter fraud, are baseless, serving only to undermine confidence in our democratic processes and inflame tensions.”

And former Secretary of State Colin Powell on October 26 told the Long Island Association that he will vote for Hillary Clinton. According to a member of that association, Powell “spoke about his [Trump’s] inexperience, he spoke about the messages that he’s [Trump] sending out every day to his supporters, which really paints our country in a negative light across the globe with all our allies.”

By alleging our system is “rigged,” Trump is tearing down the Constitutional fortress constructed with great care more than two centuries ago.

Don’t let anyone tell you that your vote won’t count. Our voting system is fair and is run by local officials you have chosen, not by a central network that can be shifted in one direction or another. Know that your cast vote for president is one of the most consequential decisions you face every four years.

And this process is monitored and reported to you by journalists, whose job it is to seek the truth and expose it for you; not to favor one candidate or issue over another.

Donald Trump would not exist as a national figure, if his statements had not been printed and broadcast by news organizations — known collectively as “the media” — which he continues to decry. Reporting is what journalists do: report facts and investigate people and organizations, so that we, the public, will know the truth.

Please consider what is at stake, and vote; because our democracy, right now, needs each one of us to stand up for our country.