Self-fulfilling Fear-mongering

There is a refrain coming from various pundits and opinioneers that if the Senate doesn't allow witnesses and doesn't convict Trump, that we will be on our way to a dictatorship. While their alarm may be understandable, their conclusion is immediately wrong and potentially a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

The folks who have been telling you for years that your vote doesn't matter, that both major parties are the same, that all politicians are corrupt (so why bother voting) would love it if Americans threw up their hands in despair and frustration and walked away from the polls. 

You see, some politicians are corrupt. Sometimes, the parties do act alike if they are not held to account by voters. But we -- voters -- don't need to accept that as our reality. We can do something about it, by informed voting. We can give as much thought to who we elect as our political leaders as we give to the cars we buy, or the smartphones we buy.

But if we surrender to frustration and despair; if we just decide, "Screw it, my vote doesn't matter," then our apathy may well lead to the dictatorship we're told to anticipate.