LTE: politically homeless

Dear editor,
Many Americans who believe deeply in limited government, personal responsibility, and respect for the Constitution must feel politically homeless right now. And many Americans who believe just as deeply in civil rights, equal justice, and democratic norms feel the same agitation.
Disagreement is not the problem — the problem is when loyalty to any one leader or party is placed above the rule of law. Conservatism at its best meant restraint, commitment to institutions, and respect for constitutional limits. Liberalism at its best meant defending equality before the law, protecting minority rights, and strengthening democracy itself.
No election victory is worth weakening those foundations. History warns us that when any movement — left or right — decides that winning justifies breaking the rules, the Republic is what loses.
Today, I ask you to stand not as Democrats or Republicans, but as constitutional Americans — choosing the Republic over short-term wins, and preserving the freedoms that generations of conservatives and liberals fought to protect.
This Republic does not belong to one party — it belongs to all of us. When we choose the country over the party, democracy survives.
Joan Reading
Union Dale, PA