On August 9, 1974, my family and our good friends climbed Mt. Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park. We had been camping for a week and hadn't heard any news, but on the trail that morning we met a fellow who had just driven up from Virginia and who asked us what we thought of what Nixon had done.
"Jeez, what's he done now?" we asked.
"He resigned," the man replied, "effective noon today."
Was he pulling our legs? We interrogated him a bit to make sure, then looked at our watches and realized that if we hiked just a little faster we could get to the summit before noon.
There were perhaps 50 people at the top when we arrived, pretty sweaty, around 11:30am. Some had heard the news, others hadn’t. We organized a big NASA-like countdown, at the end of which we hooted and whistled and waved our jackets like flags. Here and there someone muttered that they never thought Nixon was that bad, but they were a tiny minority and they quietly slunk away.
Hiking faster hadn't changed anything but it made for a memorable day.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we're in the middle of another, bigger climb and countdown. The days are dwindling to protect the vote, get out the vote, and arrange for a fair tabulation of the vote, on 50 separate state schedules. We have not just a would-be tyrant to turn out, but corrupt and enabling senators, governors, and state legislators to replace.
We're almost there, folks. Volunteer your time; give your money; enlist your friends. We’re happy to suggest ways you can help.
Hike faster!
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