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Jane Motsinger's avatar

I was leading a bird watching retreat when my friend and co-leader asked me in a whisper, "Did you hear the news? Guilty on all counts" I whooped out loud and started dancing in place - spontaneous, unadulterated joy that 12 ordinary Americans had found him guilty - the justice system had worked, the man had been held accountable for his actions. I was profoundly happy, and still am, regardless of how his cult is spinning the conviction. The verdict restored my faith in the intelligence of ordinary Americans. The 2022 midterms gave me hope - that the "red wave" was not actually a wave. That American voters had the intelligence and the sense to defeat many election deniers who had been running for office. We must continue to vote to defeat them.

Other moments in time that gave me hope: When the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organized the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC after Nicolas Cruz killed 17 of their classmates on Valentine's Day (also Ash Wednesday) in 2018 to demand changes in our gun laws.

The Black Lives Matter Movement after George Floyd was murdered gave me hope that the country had finally had enough of white people killing black people and had come together to demand it end.

I wanted to do what I could to make sure citizens could vote fairly and safely, so I signed up to be an election official and worked at the polls on our state Primary Day and at the ensuing Runoff election. Witnessing the process of how our elections are executed reinforced my faith in the system - it is very hard, if not impossible to cheat with the rules and safegurads that are in place.

Thank you, Jemar, for the space to share our thoughts and feelings.

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Bryan Hudson's avatar

Clearly, Donald Trump his followers, and sympathizers, are entirely disconnected from the concept of democracy and our justice system.

Worse, when things don't go their way they resort to name-calling and threats, not only against participants in any action that exposes the errors in crimes of Trump, they also threaten the families of those persons. They even turned against their own who reasonably state that the rule of law should be respected.

This man needs to lose the election, and lose in a landslide. For the sake of our country, the MAGA faction, like the Tea Party faction that proceeded it, needs to be buried under a wave of common sense and true patriotic actions.

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