Democracy died with the vote Feb. 6 to acquit the president. The Oval Office Occupant is now above the law.

This sound bite resonates in Russia, China, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia, among others. Certainly not in a democratic society. Our founding fathers devised a unique governmental system directly opposed to single rule autocracy. That carefully crafted document that Americans had bled and died for, received death by the Senate firing squad.

It is inconceivable that citizens, much less elected officials, reject our Constitution. The separation of executive, judicial, and legislative branches was intended to guarantee power derived from we the people, not a king or dictator.

We became the greatest nation by clinging to the values of freedom, equality, one vote per individual citizen, and the rule of law. These virtues perished on an escalator before the last national election.

Is it possible to fix this mess? What can an old man of 86 do?

Hope does spring eternal. I think democracy can be reincarnated. We must not think red or blue.

Our system, however flawed, can be resurrected by our collective will for truth and adherence to the law.

We are pioneers and Americans. Nothing is impossible.

Hal Ritz

Federal Way