Letter to the Editor: Do we have enough private virtue to save our republic?

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John Adams once said: “Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private (virtue).”

I hope he had it wrong. Right now, our Framers are sitting before the “final judgment committee” that decides whether the Constitution they stitched together is up to the job of acting virtuously, despite being run by rogues.

For radicalized Republicans, the central purpose of government is to guarantee that they, the hardworking “makers,” remain in power to prevent any part of their wealth and incomes going to what they consider the lazy “takers.” Suppressing and manipulating the vote of those people, most of whom just happen to be poor, Black and Democrats, is their chief means of accomplishing this, democracy be damned.

So here is the question: Are the checks and balances built into our constitutional republic strong enough to stop this atrocity from happening? I worry that Adams is right, that without enough private virtue, we’re screwed.

What I am hoping is for nonradicalized Republicans and Independents to stand up, to follow the examples of Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Karl Rove and others. We all know Republicans who are disgusted with what their party has become. It will take tremendous courage to ignore the inevitable death threats, but if enough of them will join with Democrats and Independents in voicing their concerns, in revealing their “private virtue,” we, together, can save our republic.

Fred Longacre

Hockessin

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