America, in both its ideal and in its actuality, stands on two feet. Under those feet is a foundation of biblical wisdom and a knowledge of history that taught the founders what worked and what didn't. With enormous care, those great men designed a nation with a stable underpinning of a constitutional rule of law and the right of each individual to have a say in how that rule would be implemented — in other words, the right to vote. We've all been busy hooplaing over the impeaching of a president, hyperventilating over the coronavirus, and watching the Democratic frontrunners stumble all over each other that we forget what's really being attacked here.

All this fuss-and-bother isn't just about winning the 2020 elections. That will be one step, for sure, but that isn't the endgame. The left isn't at all interested in continuing the grand experiment that is America. The left is about ending it entirely, and leftists are involved up to their skinny necks and wobbling dentures in pulling those two stable feet of the commonwealth right out from under us. They are trying to eviscerate the Constitution by attacking every one the of Bill of Rights, and they are undermining the individual vote — local, state, and national.

The Constitution endured leftist attacks during most of the 20th century, starting with Woodrow Wilson, and still, it held strong. Toward the end of last century, we started hearing silly statements like "The Constitution is a living document," which, if true, would have rendered it useless — what good is a malleable contract? Recently, and especially in Virginia, both the 1st and 2nd Amendments are being pounded; I'm grateful the Virginians are standing up to the onslaught. The 3rd Amendment — one that prohibits the stationing of soldiers in the homes of private citizens — received a glancing blow when Portland, Oregon, proposed a law requiring new businesses to include in their buildings room to house the homeless — far worse than soldiers.

As the impeachment fiasco unfolded, we saw that the House Democrats had chopped up the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments. The rights allotted the common criminal were denied Donald Trump during the entire "investigation" in the House. Trump never had the opportunity to face down his accusers, yet he was never charged with an actual crime. His accusers won't even accept the acquittal. We now know that his campaign was spied on, that foreign governments were brought in to conspire against him, that the left has not only broken actual laws, but ignored constitutional prohibitions as well. Our Constitution must be reeling under the blows.

Meanwhile, back in the voting booth, nothing is going well. The Democrat leadership obviously wants this pesky voting thing to go away, or at least become so fragile as to become pointless. Just look at the different fronts in this war:

Voter fraud is rampant. Daily we see evidence of fraudulent voting — states and municipalities carrying thousands of dead people on their voter registration rolls. Fictitious names of nonexistent folk are also registered. They "harvest" votes; ballots turn up in car trunks; absentee ballots fail to arrive on time. And voter ID is not required in most states, so anyone can show up to cast a ballot. Voter fraud is rampant. Daily we see evidence of fraudulent voting — states and municipalities carrying thousands of dead people on their voter registration rolls. Fictitious names of nonexistent folk are also registered. They "harvest" votes; ballots turn up in car trunks; absentee ballots fail to arrive on time. And voter ID is not required in most states, so anyone can show up to cast a ballot. This brings up illegal immigration, which is totally an effort to erase the American vote. The more illegal votes, the less the American vote matters. The more illegals counted in the Census, the more seats a state gets in the House, thereby skewing the vote. Democrats are thoroughly aware of that and thoroughly aware how vulnerable these shadow-people are and how cheaply they can buy those votes. New methods of casting our votes are suspect as well. We know that computerized voting machines can be programmed to change votes. We all remember the "hanging chad" fiasco of the 2000 election. In my state, Oregon, we no longer go to the polls; we mail in our ballots. I have no confidence that my vote is ever counted. Seattle is considering a vote-by–cell phone scheme. It's hard to imagine that no one sees the potential problems there. Ever since 2016, we've been hearing the whining of the left about the Electoral College. A purely popular vote would make the process of stealing an election — especially with electronic voting — as easy as riding a tricycle. It would also disenfranchise completely anyone living in flyover states — Los Angeles and New York would run the country. This has gone so far that some states have declared that their electoral delegates will go entirely to whoever wins the majority vote. People are choosing — with self-righteous pride — not to vote, not realizing that choosing not to vote is still choosing. It's like a toddler holding his breath to get his way. Silly and dangerous. Another attack is happening as we vote people into office while counting on them to carry out their promises to voters, only to have them turn around and do whatever they want. We watch that in Oregon often. We saw it being tried in Virginia over gun control. We see it in Congress as well. The people were not interested in impeachment, but the House held up all other issues in order to carry it out. Just look at the mess the DNC made out of the Iowa caucuses. We still don't know what happened, but we do know that the votes of those participating were thoroughly disrespected, and if we've reached a stage of chaotic dissolution so bad that we can't even count a handful of votes in a fairly small state, how in the world are we going to hold a presidential election? And now we've watched the DNC maneuver candidate bailouts so that Biden is now on top — Biden, who doesn't even know where he is. We're supposed to believe this is what the average Democrat wants?

The two feet we stand on — the Constitution and our vote — are staggering under the consistent blows dealt them by a small number of people on one side of the aisle. Every bumbling move they make is designed to pull those legs out from under the wonder that is this country. Now they're mumbling about impeaching Trump all over again, so it's obvious they have a wider agenda. We know, if we've been paying attention, that part of it is their fear of being found out, of having their nefarious, illegal activities end in indictments and jail time. But under all that is a fundamental dislike of the American voter. Pelosi, Nadler, and Schiff have all recently expressed concerns about leaving serious election issues up to the voters — as if we're all ignoramuses incapable of fulfilling our citizenship duties.

This all sounds a little alarmist and glum, but it is here I need to point out that these legs we stand on have support. We are braced against the evil of tyranny by God Himself — God, who chose to insert our founding fathers into history when and where He did; God, who provided the keys to good governance in the ways He guided Israel; God who has seen this nation through horrendous wars and terrible disasters, is still, in His infinite grace, stabilizing us. He has placed in positions of leadership astounding and unusual leaders, and He is holding them up as well.

We just need to be aware, note the patterns, and vote and pray accordingly. May we learn from the mistakes we've made in the last century. May we right the wrongs we've committed, and may we all learn to love America again.

Deana Chadwell blogs at www.ASingleWindow.com. She is also an adjunct professor and department head at Pacific Bible College in southern Oregon. She teaches writing and public speaking.