Sounding the Alarm

For the League of Women Voters, controversy is anathema. It’s an avowedly nonpartisan organization that takes great pains not to take sides in the political world, even as it helps provide lots of information to voters, and to encourage “everyone to fully participate in our democracy,” as its website outlines its mission. Even in this time of mudslinging, there’s no way anyone can besmirch the objective bona fides of the League.

Which makes this week’s “Viewpoint,” from Judi Roth of Southampton, all the more startling, and impactful.

Roth chairs the Unite & Rise Committee for the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork. The committee is named for an initiative, “Unite and Rise 8.5,” where the national LWV aims to “mobilize 8.5 million voters to defend our Constitution and the rule of law through advocacy, civic education and engagement.”

Roth’s piece should be read in full, but the short version is that it’s a call to action: It quotes the national LWV leaders citing the “flagrant disregard of congressional authority and governmental checks and balances,” and a lawlessness particularly regarding “the deportation of migrants and even those lawfully in this country,” to declare, simply: “Our country is in a constitutional crisis.”

The statement itself is nothing new: It’s been a topic of conversation in much of the national media for some time (less so on, say, Fox News). But the significance here shouldn’t be missed — calling out national leaders on this alarming direction is not partisan. It’s patriotic.

Too often, the messenger gets the lumps when someone doesn’t like the message, so it’s been extremely easy for the Trump administration and its supporters to wave off such criticism as coming from “the left.” In this case, though, it’s coming straight down the middle, from an organization that must sincerely be alarmed to risk such criticism to sound an alarm, saying, in essence, the house is on fire. Pulling a fire alarm isn’t choosing a side — it’s saving the structure, and the people in it.

Take a moment to read Roth’s piece, whichever end of the political spectrum you’re on. Certainly, there will be knee-jerk responses that suggest the League has “lost its way,” or has come under the sway of some “liberal agenda” it has never, in 105 years, been seduced by.

Before running off to see what some pundits think about what the League of Women Voters is saying, really hear it. Really hear the alarm in the tone. Think a moment about why there’s such passion in this statement from a group of women who have always stood for the most basic of American values.

This is a sincere message full of concern for a nation’s soul, rooted in a secular holy document, the Constitution. Before the chasm of a divided nation swallows up this cry for help, try to truly hear it.