It’s not a given: We must honor, then support, our democracy
Now that an impeachment trial has begun, it still feels surreal to recall the images of the U.S. Capitol under siege.
I can’t stop thinking about the Confederate flag carried through the Senate lobby, the mob assaulting police officers, or that one guy’s Camp Auschwitz sweatshirt. These images should never stop shocking us. If we forget them and try to move on, we put our country at risk.
As the chief executive of one of the nation’s oldest and most renowned free speech forums, my job in many ways is democracy. The City Club of Cleveland exists for fomenting debate and finding common ground – the nuts and bolts of how we make decisions in a representative democracy. These last few years, my faith in this thing I do every day has been challenged.
I used to believe our democracy was fiercely resilient. I don’t anymore. Now I understand that to make it so, we must all work harder.
We should start by choosing democracy. None of us ever thought we’d have to do this, but given what has happened, this has to be our starting place. And in choosing democracy, we must be clear that we are choosing to put the nation’s, and our community’s, interest before our own, choosing to participate and ensure access to the means of participation by all, and choosing to honor the outcome of elections.
At the same time, we must commit to the truth. There are forces at work in our nation who have sought to manufacture their own set of facts to bolster their own efforts to gain or retain power. When it comes to facts – whether about 2020 election outcomes, the founding of our nation or any other actual piece of reality – we must declare our commitment to truth-telling.
If others see you as a leader in your community – whether you are a teacher or an elected official, a deacon or the unofficial organizer of your neighbors – be clear and direct with those who look to you and tell them that you believe that we had a free and fair election that resulted in a victory for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, just as in 2016, a free and fair election was won by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. It may seem crazy, but people need to hear this.
The challenges we face are large and legion. But in January, we came as close as we have come since the Civil War to losing our republic, which would have created a set of challenges none of us are prepared to even imagine.
The work required of us isn’t optional. As U.S. Rep. John Lewis told us in his final essay before he died, “You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.”
The answer to our challenges lies in the bedrock of our democracy. For all Americans, this is the time to renew our commitment to our founding democratic values and to the republic itself.
Dan Moulthrop is CEO of The City Club of Cleveland, a free speech platform founded in 1912.
American Electric Power is selling its 48-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Racine in southeast Ohio to Eagle Creek Renewable Energy.
The deal is expected to close this spring.
For competitive reasons, AEP did not disclose the sales price.
The plant is owned by AEP Generation Resources, the company's competitive generation affiliate.
AEP is getting out of the competitive generation business, and AEP Generation Resources has retired or sold all of its capacity, except for a unit at the Cardinal Plant in eastern Ohio that is scheduled for retirement in 2030.