Six Months Until Election Day

Democracies place the power of government into the hands of the citizens. We vote for our government representatives who make choices and decisions based on the people they represent. Elections allow citizens to vote and that can be challenging in the best of circumstances. But we really do have a very reliable and accurate system that allows legal challenges if the process is in question. That system worked in 2020. But once the process concludes and all legal challenges are exhausted, democracies require losing candidates to accept the results even though doubts might still exist. But that was not the case in 2020 when Donald Trump refused to accept the results and sparked an extremely high level of distrust in our elections. That distrust lingers as we enter the six month mark before the 2024 Election. In my opinion, the United States has the most reliable and accurate elections today in our history. I see it at my local polling place and I see it in the news coverage on reputable media outlets. But many people will not share my perspective and don't view the same sources of information. But isn't that how democracies are supposed to work? We differ in many views, perspectives and beliefs. I was so upset in 2000 when Al Gore conceded to George Bush. I was upset in 2016 when Hillary Clinton conceded to Donald Trump. Both had doubts about the results but eventully accepted the results. Democracies need that to happen for the smooth transition of power. That keeps our form of government strong and has led our country to be the most successful in the history of the world. But Donald Trump did not accept the 2020 results. January 6 followed. He has continued to seed spread lies about elections. He has absolutely signaled that the results in 2024 won't be accepted if he loses. Eighteenth century philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke once sted that "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing." Not accepting election results after all court challenges have been exhausted in our system of government under our constitutional rule of law is evil in my opinion. We have 180 days to stand up to evil.