1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to you not just as a constituent, but as a concerned citizen of a nation at a crossroads. We are facing a moral moment that will define who we are and what we stand for. I urge you to take a page from Senator Cory Booker’s example — to stand with integrity, fortitude, and unshakable conviction in defense of democracy. Now is the time to lead not with calculation, but with courage. We MUST take back this country from the edge of authoritarianism. We MUST protect our most vulnerable populations — the marginalized, the silenced, the oppressed. We MUST ensure that liberty and justice truly apply to *all*. And we MUST not flinch or cower when confronted with the choice between political expediency and moral clarity. Our nation was built on the promise of freedom — on the idea that the poor and shivering masses could find shelter here, that dignity and decency were not privileges for the few but birthrights for all. We cannot betray that promise. We cannot allow ourselves to be coerced into silence by a boorish tyrant who praises dictators and disrespects democratic institutions. We cannot allow the machinery of tyranny to gain more ground while we avert our eyes. History has shown us what happens when good people shrink back. We cannot afford that now. Please — rise to meet this moment. Speak the truth. Protect the vulnerable. Uphold the Constitution. Choose what is morally right, even when it’s politically difficult. The soul of our nation depends on leaders like you being bold and brave enough to defend it.