Readers respond

Two weeks ago, I invited readers to write about what you hope for after President Donald Trump leaves office following the 2028 election. We were — and still are — hoping to create a community dialogue that nourishes our civic health.

Naturally, we emphasized the importance of protecting the integrity of our elections, both in 2026 and in 2028. But our overarching goal is to raise our sights from the mud bath of our current national government and define our hopes for a post-Trump national agenda.

Today we are publishing two responses, and extending the invitation for more. Our opening questions to stimulate your thinking are here, but if you have other topics in mind that relate to Thurston County’s post-Trump future, feel free to write about them, and email them to jill@thejoltnews.com.

Submissions can be as brief as one sentence or as long as 500 words. You don’t have to be a great writer, and we’re available to offer editorial help if you need it to write what you want clearly. You will, of course, have final approval.

Danny Stusser, The JOLT’s publisher, reminds readers that “The JOLT is yours — it belongs to the community, and to all our readers. It is a nonprofit, governed by a local board of directors, and seeks to provide the vital information Thurston County residents need to keep our government — local, state and national — accountable and effective.”

The river is agitated, but raise your sites: there’s calm blue sky in our future.

Jill Severn | The JOLT

Here are two responses from Thurston County writers:

The Essential Power of “We”

Mara Leveritt

The simple word “We,” which appears throughout these questions, answers all but the first of them.

It’s the word that powered Benjamin Franklin’s exhortation at the perilous signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must, indeed, all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

It powers our U.S. Constitution: “We, the people…”

It propels Martin Luther King’s warning, "We must learn to live together as brothers or we will all die together as fools."

Throughout our history, that formidable word has stood guard, advising.

To reduce big money influence on elections, it advises that, working together, we can find ways to undo the damage caused by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling.

To reduce economic inequality, we can build fairness into tax codes.

To protect clean air and water and a healthy natural environment, we must recognize them as treasures, honor their diversity, renew our dedication to science, and condemn mistreatment of this planet.

To teach for a strong future, we can embrace art and fact, research and universities, libraries and honest debate — however uncomfortable — as tightly as we are able, and promote critical, human thinking. 

To elect good leaders at every level, we must reject appeals to fear, listen hard for truthfulness, and demand commitments to the rule of law.

Rugged individualism doesn’t serve families, teams, communities, armies or great nations. What does serve is the might of “union,” the need to join that made us “one nation.”

Despite our multiple differences, 250 years after our founding, that modest word “we” reminds us that we cannot let ourselves be divided. We must respect and support each other if “we, the people,” are to survive.

Integrity tops the list

 Margot E. Meadows

Intergrity is what I most want in all elected leaders, and the general population. Integrity means being honest, strong moral principles, being sound and whole, a lack of corruption.

I remember when Barack Obama was elected president. I was so excited because he was a calm, collected adult who collected all the facts before considering a decision. He was honest and moral and full of integrity.

I want the schools to teach the truth about racism in America (read "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson) and teach our children methods to overcome it. Americans have been brainwashed into thinking this way, and it hurts the upward mobility and family life of all persons of color.

From the beginning, we are taught America is the best country in the world and we accepted it without realizing some real truths.

I want a Congress that doesn't bully members into endless fundraising during what should be their work time on behalf of their constituents, and one that recognizes and doesn't punish members who vote their best for their constituents, not what their party demands they do.

And most certainly get rid of the shameful statistic that there are now 1.5 guns for every person in the United States. That doesn't sound like a beautiful, peaceful, creative place to live and raise children, where we love one another; it sounds like a people who live in constant fear and want to dominate all others.