There is some hope our voices are being heard


Americans look to Washington State for a shard of optimism as Judge James Robart upheld Attorney General Bob Ferguson's bid to stop the executive order on immigration. (“Trump immigration ban dismantled by government after court order,” Feb. 3).

It’s been hard to witness executive decisions from the Pacific Northwestern perspective because of our region’s shared resistance. The 100,000-member Womxn’s March and Mayor Ed Murray’s determination to lose “every penny” of federal funding as a sanctuary city affirmed our collective resistance. In the more moderate Kitsap County, the majority of voters still voted for Hillary Clinton, indicating that we still had a sense of community firmly rooted in empathy and tolerance. Together, we were forced to watch our understood American values of freedom being undermined.

Yet the polarized nation met resistance with revenge. Marches were met with stripped funding of public health NGOs, and stakes of immigration restriction were raised when effective ban on immigration of seven Muslim majority countries was enacted. Representatives increased futility in responding to constituents’ resistance caused somber reflection on my own ineptitude as an agent to influence the country. My democracy was being stolen, which Trump promised in his inauguration.

Now I have some restored hope that an appointee of my elected representative can put to use what still works in our fracturing system of checks and balances. Keep resisting, as we rely on it to turn over a government long idle.

Mitch Hostetter, Keyport