A last minute plea for the Republic.

Friends, I do not usually indulge in panic, and I'm not going to now. But I want to talk to you about a problem that threatens the very heart of our Republic. 

I am speaking about this incident of the Russian hacking of, and interference in, the late Presidential election. Here, I speak not as a partisan, but as an American. The current way in which the United States of America selects who is to be President and Vice President of the United States is complex, but it boils down to this:  The people vote to choose partisan Electors who then meet after the election in what's called The Electoral College. This body was created originally to prevent some influential demagogue -- a leader in a democracy who gains popularity by exploiting prejudice and ignorance among the common people, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation -- from seizing power. It was also intended to limit the possible influence of foreign powers in American internal politics. In this instance we have both of those problems. We have Donald J Trump, the demagogue's demagogue, doing all of those things in the definition. But it's the second thing that is really important:
Earlier tonight I posted this on Facebook. As it says what I wanted to say about foreign interference in American elections, I decided to save some labor and re-post it here, with some added thoughts below. 


Dear Electors : The Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, the FBI, the President of the United States, and the leadership of the house and senate have all said to you that The Russian government conspired to interfere with an American election on behalf of one of the Candidates. IF this candidate were Hillary Clinton, you would all know what you would do. Do not, I beg you in the name of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the Constitution you swore to uphold and defend, confirm the election of Donald J Trump. Between the Russian interference and the election rules that suppressed the vote in several states, This man did not win the election fairly. A foreign government intervened on his behalf, which should alone tell you the quality of the man you are set to make President of the United States. This is not a partisan issue. If it were Hillary Clinton poised to be confirmed by you, I would be equally concerned. Remember, your loyalties are to your nation first, and your party a distant second. If you vote Donald J Trump into office you will regret doing so within hours, and your regrets will only deepen and solidify in the coming months. Look to your conscience and do what your nation so desperately needs you to do. Vote Pence in, if you must, but do not, I beg you, vote to confirm the election of Trump.
Some final thoughts :
I realize that in the current political climate, it is unlikely my wishes will come true, even though there has been a massive but largely partisan effort to convince the Electors to switch their votes.
In fact, it's actually much more likely that Electors who have been deluged with pleas to change their vote will in fact become only more resolute in their conviction not to. So, we will in fact have Donald Trump, President and Kleptocrat, Demagogue in chief, as President of the United States.
We will then have at least two years worth of Trump and his crew of plutocrats looting the USA and selling it to whoever.