The pages of this newspaper are usually filled with good news.

Glancing through the columns, you will find stories of church suppers, community gatherings, school doings, charity groups, fundraising events, along with births (few) and deaths (unfortunately, a lot).

Letters to the editor, especially on the eve of an election, give our friends and neighbors a chance to praise their friends. For some reason, we have had few letters castigating candidates. The negative ones seem to be focused on changes, like road intersection improvements and harbor development.

Editor Kevin Burnham, Assistant Editor Susan Johns, and their hardworking crews strive to cover local issues to let our readers know what is happening in their communities and what it might cost.

In many ways, we provide an antidote to the flood of bad news that hammers us with horrific stories that would test Stephen King’s imagination. I am talking about last week’s attempt to bomb 14 of our political leaders and the recent report of a Kentucky man who shot two black folks after he was unable to gain access to a church serving the black community. And, on Saturday, a man fueled by hate for Jews, walked into a house of prayer and slaughtered 11 senior citizen worshipers and wounded six people, including four police officers.

Tell me, please. What the devil is going on with our beloved nation?

I know it is not the only time our nation has faced a crisis. Look at the 1860s, the 1930s and World Wars. The old gents I play cards with remember 1968 when America was nearly torn apart by racial animus and a questionable war that killed and maimed thousands of our young men and triggered riots in the streets. The year was capped when the Ohio National Guard shot into a crowd of college students and our national political conventions turned into chaos.

Somehow, some way, we survived those times.

Today, many wonder if we are once again near the edge of the cliff.

Instead of trying to bring us together, many of our leaders pay lip service to the terrible events, while seemingly hell-bent on dividing us apart as they allege that their opponents are as evil as Attila the Hun, Josef Stalin, Lucrezia Borgia, and Benedict Arnold.

Just look at the political ads that distract us from our favorite programs (the Red Sox included).

Outside groups with innocuous names paid for ads that scream out vicious invectives that all seem to end with “the sky is falling if you don’t vote for me.”

At the bottom of the ad a disclaimer flashes that seems to say it is not paid for by any candidate. Well, who paid for it? Last time I checked, our friends at the TV stations, and on social media, don’t give out free ads. How do you check in a second and a half?

“Thank God for the mute button on the remote,” said the nice lady with the white dog.

It is worse on social media where websites steal stories from around the nation with a click of a mouse and post them without checking their accuracy.

Most readers have no way of knowing the source of their stories.

On the other hand, we must put up with nut cases on social media sites. These folks post evil rants just because they can. Facebook is full of comments on comments using language that would have earned a mouth full of soap from my mother.

Great political philosophers and ethics experts debate what can be done about the evil spoken, printed, and posted comments that seem to drive our nation apart. But until they agree on a possible solution, here is my suggestion.

Finally, the TV talking heads, the radio blatherers, and the print prognosticators are done with their rants.

Now it is our turn. Next Tuesday, we have an election.

People all over the world risk their lives to be able to vote for their leaders.

Here, all we have to do is go to the local polling place and vote.

My parents took me inside the voting booth before I could walk. They voted in every election and made sure I understood that it was a sacred duty and a privilege to vote.  They were right.

See you at the polls.

For the record, last week, I identified Wendy Wolf as a Democrat. She is an Independent. Sorry, Dr. W.

Also, for the record, congratulations to the staff of the Register and the Wiscasset Newspaper for being honored by the Maine Press Association. Kudos to our neighbor, J.W. Oliver, the editor of the Lincoln County News, who was just named Maine’s Journalist of the Year. Well done.