I was shocked by the decisions in 2010 of Citizens United v FEC and McCutcheon in 2014, and took every opportunity to urge the reform of campaign financing to prevent the intrusion of unlimited money in politics.

I believe it was the first step in the dismantling of U.S. democracy. Because the resulting megadonors benefit the politicians, it will not likely ever be reversed.

Money has always been a part of politics, but also a part of statesmanship. Office holders aren’t paid lavishly so some of the best leaders are independently wealthy and therefore immune to blackmail, extortion, and bribery; they can become statesmen who back actions that benefit the world and people who can’t afford to act alone. Over the last nine years I’ve begged each of my three congresspeople to take actions to protect their constituents not just their donors, to be heroes, to step up and lead ethically.

Following Jan. 6, they expressed outrage and blamed Trump, but backed away soon after, never again disagreeing with his directives. So, now they see all the ways our democracy is being taken away and they wait. I have to wonder; if they aren’t irretrievably bad people, what are they afraid of?