The Kids Are Alright
Re “The Disrupters” by George Zornick [April 30/May 7]: This 75-year-old woman thinks these kids may be the way out of the mess this country is in. Moreover, those 17-year-olds can register, and the 18-year-olds can vote. Please, 18-year-olds, vote! Vote! Julia Nicholson frederick, md.
After Sandy Hook, I became a dues-paying member of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I paid my membership for three years, but it all seemed to be futile, so I let my membership lapse. Now I have hope again. Jeff Fast minneapolis
The Lady Is a Champ
In “Stormy Weather” [April 30/May 7], Katha Pollitt, always thoughtful and timely, nails it again (pun intended).
Dallas Baird lincoln city, ore.
A History of Decency
As pastor of a church that has been preparing to open our doors to immigrants under threat of deportation and is supporting community through the Dane Sanctuary Coalition in Wisconsin, I celebrate the unique and groundbreaking coverage of Amanda Morales and her family in your April 9 issue [“209 Days Without Sunlight” by]. Thank you for sharing her story and connecting it to our lives. While I appreciate the mention of the 1980s sanctuary movement in the United States, that is far from when this practice originated. As described in Linda Rabben’s Sanctuary and Asylum: A Social and Political History, providing sanctuary to those in need has been part of almost every religious tradition for millennia, with cities of refuge and holy sites turned safe spaces described everywhere from the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament to American Indian and Native Hawaiian societies. We are continuing an ancient practice of struggling against brutal and violent tendencies for the good of life in the community.
Again, thank you to The Nation for joining that struggle.
With a hostile incoming administration, a massive infrastructure of courts and judges waiting to turn “freedom of speech” into a nostalgic memory, and legacy newsrooms rapidly abandoning their responsibility to produce accurate, fact-based reporting, independent media has its work cut out for itself.
At The Nation, we’re steeling ourselves for an uphill battle as we fight to uphold truth, transparency, and intellectual freedom—and we can’t do it alone.
This month, every gift The Nation receives through December 31 will be doubled, up to $75,000. If we hit the full match, we start 2025 with $150,000 in the bank to fund political commentary and analysis, deep-diving reporting, incisive media criticism, and the team that makes it all possible.
As other news organizations muffle their dissent or soften their approach, The Nation remains dedicated to speaking truth to power, engaging in patriotic dissent, and empowering our readers to fight for justice and equality. As an independent publication, we’re not beholden to stakeholders, corporate investors, or government influence. Our allegiance is to facts and transparency, to honoring our abolitionist roots, to the principles of justice and equality—and to you, our readers.
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The Editors, The Nation
The Rev. Nick Utphall madison, wis.
Seeing Red, Feeling Blue
Late thanks to The Nation for publishing such careful research on the difficulties that Democrats, progressives, moderates, and others will face in the 2018 midterms [“The 7,383-Seat Strategy” by Joan Walsh, April 16]. By contrast, many liberal and legacy media are engaging in happy talk with their overly optimistic projections of a blue wave. Due to very effective redistricting and gerrymandering in Republican-controlled states, it will take a blue tsunami to regain control of the House, never mind the Senate.
Let’s have more stories on extreme gerrymandering and the 2018 election, and also on protecting our future elections from foreign interference. Even with a blue-wave federal election, it will take several years, if not generations, to overcome Republican control in the majority of our states.
Fiona McGregor san francisco
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