Words can be fascinating and revelatory. Consider congress, a noun most of us take to mean a body of elected representatives. The word congress also can mean the act of sexual intercourse, which usually involves a minimum of two participants.

A representative, another noun, is one who acts as an agent, deputy or spokesman (or spokeswoman) for someone. A representative represents.

As Americans suffer the daily frustration of helplessly witnessing the sundry misdeeds of a powerful few, we tend to distract ourselves from the relentless drumbeat of congressional sins. There are many, but we can summarize them in a few other words that come to mind: complicit, enabling, gutless, immoral, financially promiscuous. Others occur, but these will do.

What can one do about it?

Elections to the U.S. House of Representatives take place on November 6. All 435 seats will be up for election. The Republican Party holds the most of them, 236 to the Democrats’ 193. Six seats are vacant. In the U.S. Senate 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats hold office. There, 35 seats are being contested in the November election, of which 26 are held by Democrats who will need to pick up two seats to become the majority party. Two seats.

If, after observing the behavior of most members of this allegedly representative congress during the tortuous 563 days Donald Trump has toyed at being a president, you believe that these representatives have not acted to serve you and your needs and concerns and those of millions of others, you have a responsibility to the rest of us to vote them out of office on November 6 and vote for others you feel confident will do a better job. You must. Not voting is not an option.

I can’t imagine a more important election than this one. Voting is easy, despite the efforts of one political party to make it difficult. Can we do it?

Oh, yeah. Yes, we can.