On Revolution
This letter to the editor, by John Gostovich appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on April 24, 2025.
Saturday, April 19, was the 250th anniversary of the start of the American revolution when shots rang out at Lexington and Concord.
Last Saturday, in Hudson, I participated in a home-grown event that made me proud of my community and my neighbors throughout St. Croix County.
Saturday at midday, by the Hudson bandshell and the St. Croix, I joined over 600 patriots from Hudson, River Falls, Baldwin, New Richmond and other St. Croix County towns and villages. We proclaimed our support of the values and institutions that make America matter and worth defending. We were young and old, men and women, gay and straight, homegrown and immigrant. We shared a love for our country and a fervent desire to preserve and protect it from those who would carelessly damage its institutions, ignore its laws,and spread cruelty and fear.
Just like our forefathers, we voiced our support for fair taxes, good schools and safe communities. We stood for an America where all are loved and welcome, where differences are celebrated and respected and where freedom and liberty are real.
Families talked about losing support for their special needs kids. About not having enough to eat or a place to live. About vanishing resources for the disabled or those suffering from grave mental disorders. About loss of healthcare. About threats to freedom and due process and the right to a fair trial. About a corrosive meanness that is growing in the land.
We discussed real depravations here at home. Many of us are already suffering from decisions made carelessly thousands of miles away. Our elected representatives refuse to show up and listen. Their cowardice speaks volumes.
Like the patriots at our nation’s founding 250 years ago, we have values and institutions that need to be proclaimed, supported and fought for. Poverty, sickness and fear hurt all of us because we’re all in this together. We do not have to suffer alone. Together we can make the kind of world we want. Please speak up, stand up and join up.