Let's be thankful democracy is still on the menu
It wasn't your imagination: People of all political stripes breathed a sigh of relief that the midterm elections did not dissolve into yet another freak show of recrimination and chaos.
Despite real and understandable concerns about inflation, we Americans ought to give ourselves some credit for understanding there were much bigger issues at stake than the price of gasoline.
The center not only held, it soundly rebuffed extremism and scare tactics and reembraced our identity as a democratic republic able to conduct free and fair elections.
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As the world watched closely, we reminded them of why, despite all our faults, we're still one of the best things that's ever happened to this planet.
So, in addition to the things for which we are regularly grateful, particularly this time of year, we ought to give thanks to one another for understanding what truly was at stake.
The easiest way to lose a democracy is through ambivalence, fed by the foolish belief that once earned, freedom doesn't need to be preserved, protected and defended.
We remain blessed among the nations to be a country in which ordinary people, despite all the noise and tumult, still have the final say about our collective destiny.
We should never neglect to be thankful for it.
All over the world, people are languishing in prisons for the sin of wanting to live as free men and women.
In Iran, women are dying rather than endure under the thumb of religious despotism, all because the religionists there fear what might happen if they're allowed to live their lives as they see fit.
Their abuse of faith has nearly destroyed one of the world's great cultures.
We, too, find ourselves threatened by some of the same risks, couched in nationalism and in extremism camouflaged as patriotism.
That's why what happened on Election Day, matters. It reiterates that we reject the idea that others have been given some divine mandate to dictate who we are and how we should live.
It also reminds us that if we are to maintain our way of life, there still is work to do. For instance, those who rely on gerrymandering to maintain power perpetuate cynicism and distrust of the process.
They're taking their constituents for granted ― even those who support them ― because they have no real incentive to carry out their wishes.
They ignore that public service is a privilege, not a right.
It's said that you never miss a good thing until it's gone. That so many Americans stood up for democracy gives this Thanksgiving an even deeper meaning.
Freedom tastes better than all the turkey and dressing in the world.
Come and get 'em
Like weeds that poke through the landscape, every election season seems to produce leftover campaign signs that linger through rain, mud, snow and the passage of time.
If we can break land-speed records creating a vaccine, if we can land on the moon without so much as a dent in the fender, would it really be so difficult for campaigns to design a strategy or use mapping software, noting where they place their signs?
Surely, someone has a sixth grader or teenager at home who can devise one.
Thank you for running for public office but the election is over. Please retrieve your signs.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Charita Goshay: Let's be grateful democracy's still on the menu
