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Decency wins election night
Editor, OBSERVER:
Thoughts on the recent election.
DEI is decried by the administration. Empathy has been posed as a vice, a weakness.
In aggregate, winning candidates were the epitome of DEI, many of them notching firsts.
An Indian American woman elected mayor of Los Angeles.
A Latino elected governor of California.
A Latina elected governor of Texas.
A black man elected governor of Wisconsin.
A black woman elected governor of Georgia.
A Native American woman elected governor of New Mexico.
A total of 15 women elected governors.
An openly gay man elected to the Senate from Ohio.
A Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate from Michigan.
Elected clergy did not talk about the sins of LGBTQ nor creating a Christian state nor blending politics and religion.
A Methodist minister in Kansas was elected to the Senate. His message: Be Decent.
A Seminarian elected to the Senate from Texas ran under the banner Love Thy Neighbor.
Decency was mentioned in several victory speeches and in person-on-the-street interviews.
In an unrelated, but possibly prophetic phenomena, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi became a best-selling book by word of mouth. Not because of brilliant plot or soaring prose, but because it speaks to our better angels. To the power of kindness and connection and compassion.
Perhaps the election results were at least in part a pushback to vulgarity and cruelty, and a sign of our longing for decency.
Judy Shuler,
Fredonia
Challenges remain for new leaders
Editor, OBSERVER:
For a while there seemed to be light at the end of the dark Trump tunnel. A possibility that truth, integrity and responsibility would claw their way back into public discourse. That was all shattered by President Donald Trump as he appointed Stephen Miller as his Chief of Staff. Miller’s sole purpose in life appears to be to make Democrats as miserable as possible. His abrasive, racist and combative qualities will make any negotiations with Democrats next to impossible. He brings out the worst in Trump by failing to ever use the word “No.”
Trump himself will have a monumental task handling the lack of attention he’s about to encounter; maybe his new title should be “Mr. Irrelevant.”
He’s getting revved up to start using his power of the veto, which may prevent the passage of bills favored by the majority of Americans. This will adversely affect any Republicans when 2028 rolls around.
It’s too bad so many Republicans hold the view that all Democrats are on the extreme left when that’s simply not the case. Far more moderates prevail in both the House and the Senate, and they might stand a chance at passing beneficial legislation.
Trump really doesn’t possess any qualities that would encourage cooperation and compromise, and that could make things unbearable for him. Maybe to the point of offering his resignation, so he could bundle up his billions and run away to a country that won’t extradite him back to face his crimes. Of course that would be after he issues blanket pardons to himself and family, his cabinet and a few billionaire buddies. That would cover federal crimes, leaving investigators to go after state transgressions.
It’s now up to us to bring courage and perseverance to the everyday tasks of restoring the glory to this great country of ours.
Dennis Regan,
former Gowanda resident,
Pittsford