Do not ignore the ache.

3 min readOct 9, 2020

You wince as you read the President call for the indictment of his political opponents in the newspaper.[1] You cringe as the President[2] and Vice President[3] repeatedly refuse to commit to the peaceful transfer of power on live television. You shudder at the stories of militia groups engaging in voter intimidation,[4] antigovernmental violence,[5] and covert sedition[6] flash across your social media feed.

You ache. With worry for our nation, with fear for violence, and with uncertainty about the future, you ache.

The ache is helpful — it is your conscience telling you something is wrong. Do not push it out of your mind or banish it to the realm of the intractable or unactionable. Instead, stop, take a deep breath, and try to locate and critically examine your unease. Name, confront, and demystify it. These are the essential first steps to solving a problem. So, take the time to identify what’s wrong, what’s at stake, and what you can do to stop it.

Because you CAN stop it. Despite the feelings of dread or powerlessness deliberately inculcated in you by a lawless President and our nation’s saboteurs, there ARE real concrete things you can do to continue our tradition of democratic self-governance without stooping to the cowardice of violence or inaction.

You can:

· Vote.[7] Generations of men fought and died for your right to do so. The least you can do is honor their sacrifice and cast a ballot for candidates OTHER THAN those within the party committed to voter suppression.[8][9][10]

· Help others register to vote, vote early, or vote remotely, removing them from the threat of polling place violence or coronavirus exposure.[11]

· Learn the laws and appropriate authorities to contact if militia do intimidate you or others at the polls,[12] making sure that those brazen enough to menace their neighbors face legal consequences.

· Educate your friends on the many falsehoods being spread about mail voting[13] and election fraud,[14] empowering them to participate, and have confidence, in this election.

· Donate to, or volunteer with, non-profit organizations that protect elections[15] or challenge unlawful state actions in court.[16]

The election is only weeks away. The time to prepare, bolster, and act is not later but right now. Make a plan to do your part to defend our nation’s tradition of free and fair elections.

Do not ignore the ache. Heal it.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/politics/trump-calls-to-indict-political-rivals.html?fbclid=IwAR08rfyyQ7Btnjs0yZsl5wIZl71XtKVMQNAqFTlU1Ufo2Dacmu7SRP17X9o

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/09/23/us/trump-vs-biden

[3] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pence-refuses-commit-peaceful-transfer-power-vice-presidential-debate-1072599/

[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-07/how-voter-intimidation-could-become-violent-in-2020

[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/steven-carrillo-air-force-boogaloo.html

[6] https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/10/08/921923955/michigan-ag-says-white-supremacist-groups-behind-plot-to-kidnap-gov-whitmer

[7] https://iwillvote.com/

[8] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/10/10/the-spreading-scourge-of-voter-suppression

[9] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-campaign-2020-voter-suppression-consent-decree-1028988/

[10] https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-audio-trump-adviser-republicans-rely-voter-suppression-justin-clark-2019-12

[11] You should search for your particular state. This link is to the Michigan Democratic party just as example: https://michigandems.com/vote/