The August primaries were revealing, bringing both disappointments and successes. Can we get past the slings and arrows that typically go airborne after tough races and contentious ballot initiatives? We must have a sober discussion about how to move forward if we want to save our struggling democracy and the rights and liberties that accompany it. We must protect our gains and expand our victories.

The execution of Corey Ruiz is symptomatic of rogue enforcement under the Trump regime. We can no longer use “law” and “enforcement” in the same breath with these people, and we should not. Doing so will help us to understand better that the MAGA monsters have a blatant disrespect for the law and therefore cannot be expected to uphold it. Emboldened by henchmen at the top, the minions on the street level are exerting their power.

Most voters take the valued tools of democracy for granted. We can access them readily without thinking about how society got them, or who’s responsible for protecting them. The foundational, electoral, and direct democracy tools are deeply integrated into the fabric of society. It has only been under the current regime that significant attention has been given to understanding what these tools are and the potential consequences of losing them.