As Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountains, my wife and I were thousands of miles away, on a two-week trip to Turkey and Greece.

We followed news of the devastation as we toured historic sites in Istanbul, Gallipoli, Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete, Athens, Mycenae and Delphi.

We walked on the stones of ancient empires that rose and fell: Minoans, Myceneans, Troy, Greece, Rome, Byzantines and Ottomans.

They rose, gloriously. Then they fell: to floods, fires, earthquakes, invasions and internal rot.

I thought of King George III’s line in the play Hamilton: “Oceans rise, empires fall.”

And I thought of this year’s election.

Kamala Harris and Democrats offer hope, opportunity and optimism.

Trump and MAGA Republicans offer fear, hate and division.

Democrats offer government that lifts up people when a catastrophe like Helene knocks them down.

Trump and MAGA demean and denigrate any government effort to help people who need help through no fault of their own.

With Democrats, we rise. With Republicans, we fall.

The choice is clear.