Letters to the Editor | Nov. 16, 2025

Meredith Burak’s recent op-ed on the future of the Democratic Party was brilliant. Both moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party should be happy and celebrating the landslide victories of Nov. 4. The recent criticism of the seven Democrats who joined with the independent Angus King to approve reopening the government overshadows the lessons of the elections. I spoke with over 70 voters, from Bryn Mawr to Upper Darby, in my canvassing for the retention of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices. My sense is that everyday people are sick and tired of the chaos and cruelty that is happening under the Trump administration. So many terrible things are happening, and the shutdown was one of them. They generally blamed the Republicans and wanted to send a message. The people were eager to vote the Republicans out, down to the lowest municipal office.

To continue doing this, and to nurture that enthusiasm to vote the Republicans out of office, Ms. Burak makes a powerful point. The coalition (of moderate and progressives) is not a compromise; it is the strategy. The key is to find the right candidates for the specific local conditions in an area. As we saw, the governors-elect in Virginia and New Jersey are not cut from the same cloth as the mayor-elect in New York City, but they all spoke to the electorate on issues that relate to them. This is the big tent that makes me proud to be a Democrat.

John Hastings, Haverford

On Jan. 6, 2021, Daniel Rodriguez repeatedly drove a stun gun into the base of police officer Michael Fanone’s skull, causing him to lose consciousness and suffer a heart attack. Rodriguez was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, and the judge called him “a one-man army of hate.”

After his blanket pardon of Rodriguez and his fellow cop-beaters, Donald Trump claimed that these violent felons did not attack anyone, and that, in fact, they were the ones who had been attacked. He further stated that pardoning them was “a great thing for humanity.”

In an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Trump even defended the rioters’ “Hang Mike Pence!” chants.

Trump asserted: “Well, the people were very angry. … It’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you, if you know a vote is fraudulent, right, how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?”

“Trump derangement syndrome” is a term of propaganda coined to discourage the American people from examining the appalling statements and decisions for which Trump is responsible.

The danger to America lies not in outrage at Trump’s conduct, but in the silence that so often greets it.

Terry Hansen, Grafton, Wis.

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