January 9, 2023
Dear editor;
What is the definition of democracy? Newly- elected House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said it best:
“House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy, Benevolence over bigotry, the Constitution over the cult, Democracy over demagogues, Economic opportunity over extremism, Freedom over fascism, Governing over gaslighting, Hopefulness over hatred, Inclusion over isolation, Justice over judicial overreach, Knowledge over kangaroo courts, Liberty over limitation, Maturity over Mar-a-Lago, Normality over negativity, Opportunity over obstruction, People over politics, Quality of life issues over QAnon, Reason over racism, Substance over slander, Triumph over tyranny, Understanding over ugliness, Voting rights over voter suppression, Working families over the well-connected, Xenia* over xenophobia, Yes, we can over you can’t do it, and Zealous representation over zero sum confrontation.”
Two years ago January 6, 2020, democracy held in spite of the attempted coup d’e’tat to deny the peaceful transfer of power. It was a fight, but a necessary fight, and one that must keep on in order to allow the people to vote wherever and however it is denied. Power to the People. An oldie, but a goodie.
Judy Siedlecki, Oswego