How two decent Virginians gave hope that Trumpism can be crushed

As the anti-science Republican Party urgently tries to turn out the lights to the lab of the great American experiment, I want to remind you again that there are patriots and truth-tellers everywhere fighting them, and we should all take heart …

Like you, these good people are leaning in hard and spending their time and treasure to protect us from the most anti-American regime this country has seen since the racist, traitorous Robert E. Lee was leading armies against our country 165 years ago.

I ran into two of these good folks on Saturday, and I want to tell you about it.

My wife and I were shaking off the last of the grisly road grime from a long journey that started in the Battleground State of Wisconsin, and 1,200 miles later ended hard on the coast of the Battleground State of North Carolina.

We were busy settling into temporary housing that should shelter us nicely for the next few months, as the state that stretches out to the north of us, Virginia, readies for crucial elections Nov. 4. Democratic victories in that state could radically change the battlefield for the forces defending America against the odious, fascist Republicans who mean to end us.

On the way to our car, I spotted a white Subaru in the parking lot with a handsome, bright blue Abigail Spanberger sticker on the car.

Spanberger is the Democrat running to replace the grotesque, book-banning, Glenn Youngkin, in Virginia as the state’s governor in just six, short weeks.

I told my wife that I endeavored to meet the fine people who would fly this flag in a N.C. county that isn’t shy about touting their anti-American ignorance by supporting the orange, convicted felon who violently attacks us …

There are plenty of pro-American, pro-environment patriots out here in the Outer Banks, but we don’t carry guns or wear our ignorance on stupid, childish cammies. We’re more inclined to go about our work with a quiet purpose, while picking up their trash on the beach.

Just after lunch, and on my way to the hardware store to grab some much-needed supplies, I got the opportunity to meet these people who wore their hearts on their sleeves.

A man and woman were piling into the Subaru, when I approached them. Here is how that encounter went:

ME: “Howdy!”

THEM: “Howdy!”

ME: “I was hoping to meet the people with that Spanberger sticker on their car.”

THE MAN: “Why? Are you going to punch me in the nose?”

I laughed out loud …

Such times we live in …

I told the man, named Joe, that I actually wanted to hug him, because Spanberger was badass, and anybody who would support her must be some kind of badass themselves.

That’s when they laughed.

The wife, Carol, asked where I was from in Virginia, and I told her I was just a loudmouth activist lately stationed in Wisconsin, where we are fighting the good fight from the rooftop of the country.

She said, “Oh!! You guys are killing it up there!”

I agreed, of course, because since 2018 it’s hard to point to another state that has altered its political landscape as dramatically as Wisconsin.

We’ve kicked out Republican governors, flipped our Supreme Court from dark red to middling blue, put fair-ish maps in place, and basically restored order to a state that had gone mad thanks to the poison the billionaire Koch Bros. had been ladling out to the mouth-breathing Republicans, who were led by Scott Walker, perhaps the stupidest man alive.

Yeah, we fell short last November, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Kamala Harris actually got more votes than Joe Biden did in 2020, but just enough Republicans and dummies in the middle helped put the woman-abusing felon back in our White House. We did keep the steady Tammy Baldwin in the Senate for six more years, so there was that.

So now I was talking to a couple of patriots who knew the importance of every election going forward, and were dug in on the frontlines of Virginia.

I told Joe that Spanberger was going to win big, because she was made for the moment, and so, too, were he and his wife.

He said, “I sure hope so,” before Carol interrupted and said, “She’s great. Yer damn right she’s gonna win!”

I gave her a high-five, smiled big, walked off, climbed into my car, and headed for the store.

There are patriots everywhere, my friends, and this is the time to be loud, proud and purposeful. You need to search these people out. Lean on them … If necessary, help show them the way.

There is great power in connection, because connection brings power.

It’s time to take that power back.

• (D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.)