LETTER: Denounce the cult but save its members

To the editor:

Most Wisconsinites, no matter our background or ZIP code, believe in our democracy and want to preserve it and the freedoms it guarantees.

It is under attack here, as it is across the country, because the leader of the anti-democracy movement nationally, Donald Trump, keeps spreading toxic lies.

Here in Wisconsin, a handful of officials have drunk the Trump Kool-Aid. Chief among these are Reps. Janel Brandtjen and Timothy Ramthun, Michael Gableman and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. Newly elected Republican candidates Tim Michels and Peter Schmidt are other examples.

We must denounce them for their recklessness, but we need to do more than that.

We need a broad coalition of Republicans, independents and Democrats who will work together in defense of our democracy and our freedom to vote. We all need to get out and vote.

One more thing: We need to engage in civil conversation with someone we know who is tempted by Trump’s siren songs. If each of us can bring one person back from the Trump cult, we can save our democracy.

Mary Arnold, Shawano