By now, you’ve received your ballot for the November election. And democracy is on that ballot. You won’t see it with a circle next to it, but it is on there. With every circle you fill in on that ballot, you are voting for — or against — democracy. For or against our constitutional republic.
Yes, you’ll be voting for or against the candidate and their stands on the economy, election integrity, health care including women’s reproductive rights, prescription drug prices, energy policy, national security, immigration, Social Security and Medicare. But you’ll ultimately be voting for or against democracy.
Without a secure democracy, we have none of these choices. No autocratic country has a solid economy. Autocrats don’t care what their citizens want, or most importantly, need. The cruelty can be the point. Immigrants, both legal and undocumented, are “others,” not like “us.” Of course, “others” become those who don’t have the right, history, first language, job, education, hair style, skin color. Beware, anyone can be made “other.”
The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol proved my point. Vice President Mike Pence became the “other” in minutes — someone to be hunted and hanged for following the law.
All that Republican support of law enforcement? Those 140 wounded law enforcement officers were attacked as “other” by the right-minded, right-thinking, Trump-believing insurrectionists. Elected Republicans, with few exceptions, haven’t denounced these anti-democracy election deniers. They chose to ignore and deny 60 court challenges, lost by Donald Trump, and multiple audits, also lost by Trump. Until Republicans can once again support democratic norms like accepting elections they lose (the real election integrity), we cannot vote for them. Not one of them.
Republicans have voted against us and our needs for years. Democrats have been trying to improve our world, locally and globally. Vote for those who vote for you and for democracy. Democrats in the House and Senate have voted to reduce costs for drugs and health care. Republicans have voted against these again and again. Democrats want to keep the federal government out of women’s reproductive health care decisions. Republicans seem to want to control women’s uteruses — next up, gay marriage.
Everything depends on a healthy democracy.
National security? With President Joe Biden’s election, our allies around the world breathed sighs of relief. Normal, sane behavior returned to the White House. The previous president tried his damnedest to alienate NATO and chose to believe Putin over American security advisors. We should support the president who is supporting Ukrainian democracy against Putin’s autocracy.
Jobs? Increased under Democrats. The economy? Yes, there is 8% inflation here, 10% or more in the United Kingdom and much of Europe after the pandemic. Democrats have been working for a living minimum wage, affordable health care, immigration reform, clean energy, and keeping Social Security and Medicare. Republicans? Check the votes. Republicans have voted against and will do so again.
So, democracy, it’s on the ballot. Voting for a Republican is a vote against democracy. Fill in the circle by the Democratic candidates. They’ll work for democracy. And you.
Paula Gill
Centralia
