'Moving on' means staying involved

A recent letter stated that those who did not vote for Trump should "move on." I can guarantee that millions of caring Americans have indeed "moved on" from the election of Trump. We have "moved on" to doing everything we can to be clear to our government representatives about the specific issues that matter most to us - protecting our health care, protecting our environment, protecting our civil rights, etc.

Let us remember that our elected officials are elected "by the people, for the people." Our democracy was not designed to merely elect someone and then look away from them for the next four years. To be truly patriotic means more than waving a flag and casting a vote. It means that as citizens we stay informed and engaged in the issues.

Some Trump supporters seem to feel that if we speak up to our elected officials that somehow we are anti-Trump. However, as a friend of mine who voted for Trump said, "we can never elect someone who feels 100 percent as we do on all issues." So it becomes important to provide feedback to our elected officials.

Do you like their specific proposal on a given issue? In April, the EPA began to legally allow mercury, lead and other pollutants back into our public waters. As someone who cares about the environment and public health, I would never be ok with allowing mercury to be dumped into our rivers - regardless of who was in office.

Patriotism is demonstrated by staying informed of the issues, of any proposed legislation and providing input to our elected representatives.

Please let us all express our pride at being Americans and appreciate that our democracy allows us to speak up and express our views to help guide our elected representatives.

Susan Pribyl

Ingleside