by Lynn Edmunds

I get up around 4:30 Saturday morning and go to the garage to bring out the trash,. This priority must not be ignored if we want it picked up before we rise to meet the day. But on the day after Christmas, I do not return to bed upon completion of Saturday’s ritual, because there is much to contemplate after celebrating the holiday without family or friends.

This year feels very different than normal. Something is terribly wrong. It’s not just about a virus. In many ways all that has happened in 2020 seems connected to a common theme, of isolating us from a normalcy that we are told may never return. Even responses to concerns for relaxed Election Integrity standards are dismissive and not what would normally be expected. And now Americans are about to trust that which is untrustworthy, accepting election results that will not or cannot be validated due to relaxed standards. Our concerns are routinely dismissed as false or unfounded and without merit. This isolates us those who are still unaware.  

So, as I contemplate returning to bed, I wonder: are we being conditioned for this new normalcy by a Supreme Court that chooses not to hear the people’s plea for validation, or are Justices really that deaf, dumb and blind to our Constitution? How can they possibly ignore the merits of a case brought before them by one third of all States, of these United States of America?Why would they not consider this an urgent priority under normal circumstance and what or who would prompt them to take this posture? Sadly the isolation and rejection continues.

Perhaps all that is left now is to hope beyond hope our Representatives and Senators will object to certification of these suspect results January 6. But are they listening?

I pray these guardians of Liberty will end our isolation, by remembering their oath and restoring the trust essential to resuming true and normal behavior in a Republic such as ours. But as much as I search for optimism, I recall that at each step along the way our Judicial branch of governance seems to have failed to hear our plea and I now realize, prayer may be all I have left at my disposal, when foundational institutions are no longer responsive to the rituals they have sworn to protect and defend, or when the bar has been raised so high it cannot be reached, even by 18 states.

By now I am fully awake, on my computer and turning my attention to an e-mail from a friend that illustrates an assessment of our situation, written by Rev. Franklin Graham. Admittedly, I would like to believe Reverend Graham is mistaken, yet his words only reinforce my belief that political parties have been rendered irrelevant in this fight and the days of pretending to self-govern, are now surely numbered if those sworn to uphold our Constitution retreat from their obligation, mistakenly thinking business as usual will bring out the trash in the next election cycle, when this attitude, only presumes that winning elections is more important than preserving our Republic.

Obviously if my observations are true, we may as well get used to living under rules of compliance put forth by modern day robber barons, corrupt politicians and the likes of arbitrary COVID compliance restrictions. These restraints of compliance will in fact be the new norms we’ve recently been promised and will become standard operating procedure, unless our legislators live up to the oath they took when they swore to uphold the constitution. 

Will Congress and State Legislators continue to conduct business as usual in 2021 like nothing has happened this past election cycle, or will they prioritize election integrity and insist on voter identification to insure fair and honest elections, necessary to preserve this Republic in harmony with the will of the people?

The fate of our Republic is now clearly in their hands. If they do not choose wisely our freedom of choice will have been effectively confiscated, replaced by a new reality that is born out of ignorance of priority and in harmony with corruption that will no longer require the pretense of self-governance. 

The sanctity of our vote is our most important priority for maintaining Liberty. It must not be manipulated or diminished!

The author lives in Wallingford.