There is a criminal among us. He runs the country. As criminal leaders are wont to do, he has surrounded himself with a gang of lesser but like-minded criminals. In recent years, together they have looted and debauched our country. In the coming months, they will try to extend their reign of lawless rule, by whatever means necessary. As in the past, we should expect dirty tricks, lies and criminal conspiracies. In many ways, the unpunished felonies of the past are the clear predictors of what is to come. 

Our armor is our unity, the rule of law and the semblance of a 250-year-old democracy that still stands. We must use our precious votes and collective will in a surge against those that have already told us publicly, that, if they can, they will cheat like hell to win. We must ensure that they fail in all of their concocted and diabolical schemes. If successful, those schemes could effectively end our democracy. Armies of Justice Department lawyers will try to twist election law far from its constitutional boundaries, and legions of strong-arm federally appointed henchmen will try to enforce the federal government’s interference into elections that are constitutionally mandated to be controlled and administered by the state governments. This expected nefarious interference will exceed mere conflict with existing election laws; it will undoubtedly contradict the very rule of law.

From this day forward through Election Day and until the January, 2027 oath of office of the newly elected Congress, we must protect and preserve our democratic traditions. If we can keep it, democracy is still the greatest form of government. I hope you will join all of our fellow citizens in the efforts to protect what is something profoundly precious about this country; the right to vote and have it counted.

John Pace lives in Honesdale, PA.