Dear Editor,

This month, and probably the next two, promise to be very interesting times which will be cited and remembered for decades to come. Fall is here and winter just two steps behind with that, come extra chances to feel depressed and succumb to the regular seasonal illnesses. I take vitamin D daily in hopes that it will help me . . .

surf above those maladies. Fresh air and walks outside can also help keep the demons, both real and imaginary, at arm’s length or more away. 

Then, we have the predicted second wave of COVID-19 looming around us. If you look at the statistics, in the US, the first wave never really went away, so first wave or third wave, the avoidance protocols are the same. Those who advocate for herd immunity must be willing to sacrifice many lives for that to occur. It’s not just going to be the elderly, sick and weak, because young people, and those with hidden factors they’re not aware of, can be stricken from the population without warning. 

Another factor is the political chaos of the US election. With members of the current administration having strongly hinted that they may not abide by the results of the vote, tomorrow may be just the beginning of a time of intense turmoil. The Trump administration actually lost the popular vote in 2016, but the cabalistic electoral college voted for a nascent dictatorship, with little regard for popular opinion or facts of any sort. 

I was born and raised in the US, in a family where the dinner table discussion was more about politics than about sports or cars or pop culture. I’ve never seen anything like the situation there now. Having lived more than half my life in Pontiac, I live and vote in Canada, but I have many family members and childhood friends still there. I worry for their safety, as my parents used to worry for me, living as I did without electricity or running water. I learned how to make those things happen in our owner-built country home. I hope and wonder, will the people of the US dodge the bullet of authoritarian dictatorship and elect a president who will serve the people, not himself and his crooked cronies? 

This does matter to us. We sleep beside the elephant, as Pierre Trudeau once said. The gun-pointing and sword-throwing thugs, sporting the symbols of racism and oppression, trying to scare people from voting, is what we abhorred when it happened in Afghanistan. This time, it’s close to home and that border is paper-thin.  

Robert Wills

Shawville and Thorne, Que.