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Letter: Carry the torch and vote

By Al Bauer, Vancouver
Published: October 17, 2020, 6:00am

Much blood was shed by our forefathers to institute the great American experience of democracy in 1789, and with some improvements over the years has served us well for 231 years. Over these years many Americans have made many sacrifices to preserve it and some with their lives. Because democracy is so fragile and precarious, it takes all “we the people” to preserve it.

As was written by John McCrae after WWI, in part, “Take up our quarrel with the foe: to you from failing hands, we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.”

In another reminder of our obligation, President John F. Kennedy in his Jan. 20, 1961, inaugural speech said, in part, “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” That’s we the people. Torch, in part, means our obligation and right to vote without interference or intimidation.

The current administration and lap dog Senate majority, with the support of fringe groups on the left and right, are attempting to destroy the very essence of the torch, our right to vote. If legitimate self-governing fails in this country, we will go back to what our forefathers faced before the Revolutionary War: rule by authoritarian despots.

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