A letter writer commends his neighbors for removing a tree that was blocking a waterway. While I think he is correct in his assumption that most of the homeowners on the Chain of Lakes lean Republican, his implied conclusion — that had those same neighbors leaned Democratic, they would have left the tree there — appears based upon nothing other than his own prejudice. They were simply neighbors, coming together to fill a need. And that is what a Democratic Republican government is, on a larger scale.

It is telling that, in quoting from the preamble to the Constitution, the writer chose to end the sentence at “ourselves.” Period. Was it by accident that he omitted those next three words: “and our posterity”? In so doing, he has exemplified another difference between “conservatives” and liberals. Oil wells and mines in national parks, air pollution, contaminated water — it’s all okay so long as we make money “for ourselves.” Future generations are on their own, right?

Nearly 3,000 Americans are dead in Puerto Rico, over 500 children permanently separated from their parents for crossing the border with their parents to seek asylum. Where is the outrage? Do brown people count as “ourselves”? We have an administration based on greed and a congress of enablers, giving massive tax cuts to billionaires, while cutting veterans’ benefits and medical care for the poor. And it’s not okay. None of this is okay and we need to say so.

If ever there was a time to “make it emphatic,” this election is it. Every American who cares about our children’s future must vote, and vote for every Democrat for every single office. No exceptions. Our voice must be so loud and clear that it cannot be ignored when we say this is not okay.