Our Founding Fathers were intelligent, honorable men dedicated to democracy. They didn’t have a crystal ball, but they imagined needs could change, so they didn’t just write the Constitution, they wrote the amendments, ensuring a strong central government did not infringe on individual liberties.

Our Constitution is the longest surviving written charter of government. That charter is now endangered because what our Founding Fathers couldn’t imagine was a time when honor would disappear from the human character. They could not imagine a time when those who created the laws, the legislative branch, and those who interpreted the laws, the courts, would be ignored by the executive branch, whose function is to enforce laws. They could not imagine a time when American citizens would allow the tyranny of a want-to-be king to trample “the people” the way King George III had trampled them.

No citizen deserves the dismantling of our institutions. Veterans deserve better. Senior citizens, the disabled, the poor, who depend on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid deserve better. Children deserve a quality education. Farmers deserve what they were promised. We all deserve to be warned of dangerous weather events. We all deserve to be protected from dangerous products and workplaces.

Tariffs and layoffs will cripple our economy. Abandoning our allies will endanger us. We need to be concerned about these atrocities, and others not named, not just the ones that directly affect us. We are in this together. And none but a few billionaires will be spared.

Catherine Matthias

Joseph