Essays
Collected civic writing from The Stump — long-form essays on trust, democracy, and the public conversation.
Betrayal: When Conversation Dies
A democracy can function without agreement or even conflict, but it cannot function without conversation. When power speaks into that silence without accountability, it becomes easy for leaders to mistake their own will for the will of the people. That is where betrayal begins.
Not in the headline scandal, but
Toadstool Mary