In a recent letter to the editor, Mr. David Aycock wrote a kind of rebuttal to the “dire picture of our country” portrayed by a “frequent letter writer to this newspaper.” I’m assuming that is me, and will, if permitted, give a reply to Mr. Aycock’s observation.

He is 100% right that we tend to live in a “community of people who are very decent and respectful of one another” and that, in general, when people talk to one another, the exchanges are polite and respectful, even if they disagree.

Fayette County and many other communities are still blessed with such civil comity and for that, I am truly thankful and attribute that to the basic goodness of all Americans, something I have mentioned many times in my letters. Of course, I include “Democrats” in that category.

However, when I criticize Democrats and Leftists, I am not really talking about the average voter, but about the activists and hyper partisans of the party. I am sorry, Mr. Aycock, but in spite of the pleasant surroundings we get to enjoy in our little enclave here south of Atlanta, things just aren’t so pleasant in other quarters, especially in Washington, D.C.

I made the mistake of turning on MSNBC for 2 minutes the other day and saw a panel talk about how the Republicans are currently trying to engineer a fascist takeover of our country because they don’t back the ridiculous changes to our country’s election laws currently favored by the Democrats.

This wasn’t a minor case of disagreement, or an example of live and let live. This is one side of the aisle unabashedly accusing the other of fascism because even though the Democrats control the Legislative and Executive branches, they can’t muster enough support even on their own side to foist their increasingly extreme agenda on the nation. They will not accept the democratic outcome of the election and the limitations to their aspirations therein.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney General is accusing Georgia of passing its recent election law for specifically “racist” reasons with no facts to back it up, Democrats continue their campaign of accusing our country of being irredeemably racist, homophobic, etc., and the press seem more interested in coddling and protecting Biden than in actually reporting on his policies and sordid history of corruption and ineptitude.

So, while things are pretty hunky dory in our neck of the woods, that doesn’t mean that we should be quiet when we see injustice, lies, and malign conspiracies dominate the political discourse, or when we see real and obvious threats to our liberty and constitutional form of government.

(Thankfully, my earlier prediction of a “soft coup” — which Mr. Aycock no doubt thinks to be hyperbole — has been largely thwarted by cooler heads in the Democratic Party who know that if their party packs the court, adds states, and eviscerates election law integrity, they will lose the only thing that matters to them: their office.)

I long for the day when I will no longer feel compelled to write these letters. It gives me no pleasure to see what is happening in our country and I long to reside peacefully in the pleasures of family, friends, and faith. But I cannot do so while Rome seems to be burning. As the wise man said, all that has to be done for evil to win is for good men and women to remain silent.

Sadly, I do believe we are faced with evil from certain, specific quarters and therefore I cannot remain silent myself.

If I am wrong and my assertions are incorrect, please show me where. I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about these things.

In the meantime, Mr. Aycock, I welcome your more anodyne approach and wish we could all take that view and just enjoy the simple joys of good neighbors and happy communities. I wish nothing else for our great nation.

Trey Hoffman

Peachtree City, Ga.