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** 1. Mr. Trump, please use your superpowers for good ([link removed])
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By Beth Ann Rosica

Mr. Trump, I write to you as a person who reluctantly voted for you for the first time last week. It is also the first time in my 39 years of voting that I blackened an oval for a Republican presidential candidate.

I was a liberal Democrat for 36 years until the extended school closures and forced masking of our children propelled me into action and politics. The Democratic Party left me, like so many others, to pursue a progressive agenda that did not support the groups they claimed. In 2020, I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Jo Jorgensen, and in 2016, I voted for Hillary Clinton. Neither time did I ever consider voting for you.

Yet this year, I not only considered it — I did vote for you, although I did so quietly and did not tell many people.

Your historic win would not have been possible without people like me — people who don’t love your personality but appreciate your policies. I am happy that your team won, and now I have a request.

Please use your superpowers to unite our country.

Why It Matters. The majority of voters rejected radical ideas like men competing in women’s sports and medically transitioning children to a different gender. We know that you will hold fast and move the country away from this insanity. Under your leadership, our economy will grow, our borders will be secured, and foreign threats will hopefully reconsider their aggressive actions.

But, you have a choice about how you accomplish these things. There are those in your base that are unconcerned about the manner in which you solve problems — in fact, they actually like your New York, brash persona. Yet, there are those of us who do care about the way in which you respond and act.

So, I implore you today to use your gifts for good and take this opportunity to prove your naysayers wrong. You can exert strength without being a bully. You can buck the bureaucracy without mean tweets. You can hold people accountable without calling them names.

Continue Reading ([link removed])


** 2. I don’t know if I belong to a political party anymore. So I’m throwing a party instead. ([link removed])
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By Heather Shayne Blakeslee

“We don’t care who you voted for, just bring a dish to the potluck.”

I’ve uttered that phrase hundreds of times to my neighbors in South Philadelphia the last three weeks as I passed out postcards to invite them to a Unity Picnic and concert at Old Swedes’ Episcopal Church in Queen Village this weekend.

I could see people’s shoulders relax, their brows unfurrow. Often, they looked at me with some mix of gratitude and confusion.

Sometimes the reaction was disbelief. One guy at the Sunday Headhouse Farmers Market, dressed in his Eagles gear and pushing a stroller, happily took a card but then as he walked away sheepishly admitted to me, “I voted for Trump.” And I told him again — I don’t care who you voted for, just bring a dish to the potluck.

Why It Matters. Six years ago, I started a Philadelphia-based art and ideas magazine called Root Quarterly, in part because I almost lost my relationship with my conservative father, whom I love dearly, over politics.

I wanted to create a place that got people off the hamster wheel of online insanity — our credo is print is dead, long live print. Our amazing collaborators want to employ art and beauty as a way to bridge divides, and for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to contribute to national conversations — about housing, education, and culture. We’re probably the only arts and culture magazine in the country that was explicitly founded with viewpoint diversity and pluralism — not pro forma DEI — in mind. If we’re going to rebuild the fourth estate, we believe we need to do it with regenerative media that is rooted to its region, that is centered in elevation and celebration, and that aspires to intellectual and artistic excellence—and also to intellectual humility and curiosity.

Imagine that you are looking back on our country in 2,000 years. Its first 500 years will all be considered Early American History. That means that we are all founders, figuring it out together.

We need better political parties, yes… and, maybe we also just need better parties?

Continue Reading ([link removed])


** 3. Lightning Round
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* Beth Ann Rosica: CHOP’s key board members refuse to answer questions about sex reassignment surgeries ([link removed])
* Where Trump did and didn’t gain votes in Philadelphia ([link removed])
* Thom Nickels: A day at the polls ([link removed])
* Vince Fenerty: Republican gains in Philadelphia helped carry the party to statewide victories ([link removed])
* Andy Bloom: Kamala didn’t close – and here’s why ([link removed])
* Christine Flowers: So much for the Dobbs backlash ([link removed])


** 4. Fact-Check PA Launch
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[link removed]
Fact-checkers often play umpire but rarely call it fair. One side’s truths are labeled “needs more context,” while the other’s whoppers get a pass. That’s why we launched Fact-Check PA ([link removed]) : to sort fact from fiction, no matter the source. Visit us for breakdowns of claims from Pennsylvania politicians, interest groups, and media—and send us tips ([link removed]) on what to check.

Fact-Check PA, brought to you by Voices of Reason, officially launches this week. Visit our site ([link removed]) today for a preview of what's to come!


** 5. What we're reading
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"People violate laws anytime they want” is a jarring statement from anyone, but it truly shocks the conscience when you hear it from an elected official charged with enforcement of the laws. But that’s what Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) boldly stated with regard to invalid counting ballots that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decreed (twice!) should not be counted. Breccan F. Thies of The Federalist has the rundown of this scandalous abuse of power ([link removed]) and Senator Bob Casey’s desperate effort to hang on to his seat, by hook or by crook.

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Thank you, dear reader, for your steadfast support of our independent, broad-minded brand of local journalism. We could not do this without you.

With gratitude,

— The Editors at Broad + Liberty
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