Non-violence in the face of truth led to the end of legal segregation in the South. I know because in 1960, I was a student at the University of Florida. Blacks were forbidden to attend. There were separate drinking fountains separate swimming pools. For most whites, allowing equal rights for blacks was frightening. Politicians told them equality would lead to chaos and violence. That was nonsense then. It is nonsense now.
In November we will vote in an election that will either save or end our democracy. Once again fear is being ginned up by a President claiming hysterically and falsely that if Joe Biden is elected there will be chaos in all the major cities and women will not be safe in the suburbs. We all know better. Joe Biden is clearly not a violent leftist. Neither are the millions of ordinary Americans who are lifelong democrats who vote against Russia and for America, who go to church, fish, hunt, and work and serve their country. Democrats are patriotic Americans just as are most Republicans. Biden has worked for fifty years across the aisle. He is one of the most decent and honest politicians in our history and clearly the right person to lead us back from the precipice of one-man rule on which we stand today. Joe Biden envisions a day, when, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, the children of Republicans and the children of Democrats will be able to walk hand in hand. We all need to keep our cool and ignore the few Antifa and white nationalists calling for violence and insurrection. No rational person wants that.
What we all want is to restore our basic values of decency, honesty, and respect for truth.
We want our military to work for us not Putin. We want our heroes who die for us to be respected not called “losers.” Biden will support our allies and oppose dictators, not worship them. He is the unifier we need in these divisive times. If we fail to turn away from the politics of hate and fear and voter suppression and fraud in November, we will face four more years of just what we are experiencing now—an unfolding disaster on multiple fronts.
The chaos is already here. A quarter million will be dead by December with no relief in sight. Climate change is here, our economy is failing. Our schools and colleges are on life support. We are at a crossroads in 2020. Our founders rejected one-man rule by King George in favor of a divided government that required cooperation between the branches and parties. Joe Biden, unlike the President, is willing to listen to and respect science and truth and to try to solve problems. He is committed to a fair election and fair government.
We all must redouble our efforts to put the country back on its foundations. It is our only chance to save our Democracy from ruinous vindictive one-man rule for another four or more years. Let us not fail in this hour of peril.
