It has been over a year now since our nation witnessed a violent assault on our Capitol in an effort to thwart the legal and peaceful transfer of power. The Jan. 6 assault inflicted a deep and dark wound on the American body politic which continues to fester and infect our basic institutions. The constant mantra by our former president and his henchmen that the 2020 election was stolen anchors this pernicious and perverse erosion of democratic institutions and democratic principles. Truly, these ongoing efforts are a grave attempt to weave this lie into the fabric of election mythology. In order to adorn the Republican cloth and to remain in the fold, higher Republican office holders must adhere to the stolen election myth. The road to authoritarianism is paved with demagoguery, buttressed by conspiracy theory mongering, voting suppression/subversion, the denial and dismissal of fact, all of which act to dissolve the cornerstones of democracy. I now know why I so much mourn the recent passing of Bob Dole.

Peter Schultheis

Lyme