First off, you keep telling me how you were a Democrat for 40 years. Anyone who has been an actual, engaged Democrat for 40 years wouldn’t suddenly abandon those ideals. I suspect you’re either not being truthful, or you weren’t much of a Democrat. Maybe you’re just another disaffected troll wanting to argue that everything sucks and everyone but you is at fault. The Both Sides Party. Maybe you just had a bad day. I don’t know.

You claim that no one has stolen any elections (yet), and that no one can or will. Are you really not paying attention? Did you not read the list above? The hubris involved in thinking that our democracy can’t fall is supremely dangerous. Maybe the semantics are blinding you.

So let me try to respond to your points. I don’t usually bother. That’s why I write essays. That’s my argument. I rarely feel the need for a follow up, but if I do, I write another essay. I’m going to make an exception with the hope that maybe others will read it.

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Republicans began targeting state legislatures and governorships in 2000 with the purpose of gerrymandering safe districts that would combat the changing demographics. Their intent was to maintain power even if they found themselves in the minority. This is, itself, a subversion of democracy and free and fair elections.

Since 2020, we saw the passing of a surge of restrictive voting laws, resulting in at least 19 Republican-controlled states passing 34 laws that restrict access to voting. I believe these measures are unconstitutional, but at least they were within the legal framework.

Republicans have been gunning for federal judgeships for decades in order to subvert legislation they didn’t agree with or can’t pass. Now they’ve turned that to election law, where they would like to get the Supreme Court to rule that states have complete control of all national election results. This would allow them to dismiss the will of the voters and appoint their own electors. That’s not a side benefit, it’s the point. They’ve also been successful in appointing (through theft of seats) a conservative court who would deny that gerrymandering was their problem.

As far as state and local elections, and how they’re managed, more than 80 candidates who have made false claims about the 2020 election or supported Donald Trump's "Big Lie" are running for state offices that run, oversee or protect elections, including at least 21 election deniers who are running for Secretary of State in 18 states, an office that would put them in power to oversee voting in their states. Another 11 election deniers are running for Attorney General, which would position them to get involved in election litigation and law enforcement matters.

This is why the Big Lie was so important. They needed to put people in positions of authority, and convince their base that voter fraud was real, so that the next time, they’d have the cover they needed to overturn an election they didn’t like the result of. The Republican Party, and it’s media arm Fox News, has been loud and proud about this. How much more centrally controlled could it be? County Clerks, Elections Boards, and State Legislatures are all politically controlled. They’re there to serve the party, not the people. They control the levers of power.

Have you not watched any of the Jan 6 hearings? Read any of the thousands of articles on the subject? My point of view should not be foreign or surprising to anyone who claims to be a Democrat.

As far as being angry—well, if you’re not angry, you’re really not paying attention. But you can rest assured it has nothing to do with comments left by strangers.

I’m not sure what the rest of the picture you think I’m missing is, but I further assure you that this is but one of the problems we face.