Outlook for American Democracy not good
A principal requirement of democracy is fair and frequent elections; closely linked to that is the necessity for losers of elections to accept valid, certified results.
In the great majority of our Presidential elections, the loser has conceded, usually in good grace, on election night or shortly thereafter. Now, two months after the recent Presidential election, President Trump and a portion of the Republican Party are planning to dispute in Congress the state certifications of the Presidential election and the vote in the Electoral College. They have launched at least 50 unsuccessful lawsuits that dispute state results. Meanwhile, the President himself is on tape trying to persuade and intimidate the Georgia Secretary of State into changing the election results of that state in his favor.
All this activity lays the foundation for President Trump to continue to claim, after he leaves office, that the 2020 election was “rigged.” Already he appears to have convinced a substantial minority of Americans.
The United States is not guaranteed to be a democracy for all time. Democracy was replaced by authoritarian regimes in Italy in 1923, Germany in 1933, Spain in 1939, France in 1940, and in many other countries. Were we to face a crisis as intense as those faced by those countries, would our democracy survive? The current outlook is not good.
Robert Bunselmeyer,
Brunswick
Glad for recycling column
I want to thank Harry Hopcraft for writing a weekly recycling column. I thought I knew a lot about recycling in Brunswick, but I was wrong. The Recycle Bin articles provide current information in a direct format and straight to the point. He also explains why, and to me that is important to help you remember.
Christine Patton,
Brunswick
Reagan column a sorry joke
Once I finished the opinion “2021 really can’t be any worse, can it? Can it?!” (Times Record, Jan. 4) and looked to see the email address of the author Reagan@caglecartoons.com I realized this was a sorry joke. I believe in reading alternative opinions but this passes the border of fairness or reasonableness. I too hope that 2021 will be better but I can find no optimism in the legacy left by the President. I do feel so sorry for all of Reagan’s friends who have had to suffer from the effects of the pandemic, really I do!
Ronald Savitt,
Brunswick
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