Is it possible for our congressional delegation to persuade some of their colleagues to return to Washington immediately?
I believe that Donald Trump is going to take our armed forces into such an unforgivable campaign of terror that we will very quickly become a pariah nation. If that happens, we will lose everything we take for granted about ourselves — morally, physically, financially and politically.
I don’t think we can wait for the petrified regular processes. We, the people, are feeling abandoned, ashamed and afraid.
We need sane adults to form a 21st-century Continental Congress to figure out how to reform our country, and I don’t think we will get to November as an intact democracy.
I’m asking as many of our representatives as are willing to meet — informally but openly — to publicly say the things we are all thinking but have been too afraid to acknowledge. Our system is broken, and the rampant corruption of unrestrained capitalism, militarism and racism is preventing overwhelming numbers of normal, honest citizens from building good lives, homes, neighborhoods and institutions — in short, their futures.
It is time for a Declaration of Interdependence and a Constitution of Conscience.
Mary Pat Elmlinger
Newark
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
