Umair, I have read your articles on a regular basis and regrettably I rarely found anything to disagree with … the situation is far from good. Still, with the election only two weeks out, I find myself a bit more optimistic than you have been. Perhaps I am being naive, but as a Jewish American and a war veteran I have long since discarded my rose colored glasses — I know what humanity is capable of.

If Biden wins (not a certainty, but looking more likely with each passing day) I am sure that there would be an ugly and angry reaction on the far right, and quite likely we would see scattered incidents of violence. But within a reasonable amount of time, I think there would be a return to something akin to normalcy.

I believe that for two reasons. First, despite all of the griping, most Americans are invested in the status quo — they have an income, as well as food and shelter which they don’t want to jeopardize. More importantly, we are creatures of habit … and accepting the results of an election is a habit running back 225 years (even when we are convinced that the vote wasn’t fair). We have had some dangerous moments in the past (e.g., the Civil War, the march of the Bonus Army on Washington and the Great Depression, the upheaval of the 1960s, Watergate and Nixon’s near meltdown) but we managed to come back together. I suspect that we will do so again.

On the other hand, if Trump is officially declared the winner — however that might happen — all bets are off.