By Robert Johnsen

I am frightened. I’m afraid that we, as Americans, are on the edge of a paradigm shift. We are told every four years that this is the most important presidential election in American history. This time, it may well be true. If Donald Trump is elected, this very well may be the beginning of the end of America as we know it.

First, let me give some personal background. I have lived in N.C. all my life. I have been a Rowan County resident for 40 years. I am a retired N.C. school teacher. I taught for almost three decades (29 years) in N.C. public schools. For over a decade, I taught U.S. history.

One of my very favorite units that I taught was The Constitutional Convention of 1787. My students were always amazed at how these men came together in the summer of 1787 and created this written document that outlined how our federal government would operate. The framers took about four months of discussing, arguing and compromising to get this done (please be aware that it still had to be ratified by the states and that took nine more months). At the end of this when the framers finally opened the doors and let the public in, many people went straight to Benjamin Franklin to find out what type of government we had.

Franklin was the oldest delegate at the convention. He was quite sickly at this point and, on some days, had to be carried into Independence Hall. When asked what type of government we now had, he replied with tears in his eyes, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Franklin, as well as the other framers, knew that this form of government was fragile and to keep it would be difficult. That fragility comes from the fact that because of a presidential election occurring every four years, there would be many transitions of power from one president to the next. This smooth transition of power has been something that has occurred regularly meaning that when it was time for a president to go, they went.

If someone becomes president and at the end of their term refuses to leave, then we have a huge problem. This has played out over and over again in other countries. Basically, whoever has control of the military controls the country at this point. The framers knew it would be extremely difficult to keep this from happening. We have a Republic if we can keep it.

This election is not about the normal issues. It’s not about what your groceries cost, it’s not about inflation. It’s not about the price of gas. It’s not about interest rates. It’s not about unemployment. It’s about the republic and keeping it. My wife and I are both retired teachers. The vast majority of our lives are behind us. So why am I so concerned? I have a son, a daughter-in-law and a grandson. They have a lot of years to live. The thought of them living in a country where their personal freedoms were subject to the whims of a dictator troubles me deeply.

There are two choices for president. We have Harris and we have Trump. Harris is irrelevant in this equation. I’m not disrespecting her. But it’s not about her. This is about Donald Trump. I firmly believe that if he gains the power of the presidency, he will not cede it. He is an existential threat to our form of government. We have a republic, if we can keep it.

Robert Johnsen lives in China Grove.