We’re all on pins and needles about the election. Two weeks out, it seems pointless to write about anything else. I’ve already voted, as have millions of other Americans. Now we wait, and hope the whole thing doesn’t fall apart in a spasm of violence and voter intimidation on Election Day.

Can you believe we are worried about this in the United States of America? One thing my friends in Europe admire about us is our political stability. Some of them have lived through overthrow and upheaval; some are still living through it. But we have democratic institutions dating to the 1700s that are supposed to protect us from authoritarianism and insure peaceful transitions of power. That’s what we should see when this is all over: a peaceful transition. But it’s hardly guaranteed.

Most of us have already made up our minds, but that doesn’t seem to slow the outpouring of vitriol on our airwaves and social media. It doesn’t stop the glossy flyers from filling my mailbox every morning. It doesn’t stop the distortions, slurs, and outright lies.

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