This is Daisy and Elly, the two older ladies who are thinking a lot these days about the Constitution (see our first letter to the Gazette on Dec. 17, 2025.)  In that letter, we said that “the Constitution is the rope we hang on to in order to get to the barn in a blizzard.”  Lately, the blizzard has intensified.  Venezuela, Greenland, Renee Good, Alex Pretti, the rapidly increasing number of illegal arrests by ICE, the standoff on the Epstein papers, and the attempt to dismantle NATO — have all created a storm of complete chaos and fury.  What happens, we asked ourselves, when we get to the barn, and the barn is gone? 

The barn may be gone, but the Constitution is not. The Constitution is safely stored at
the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. in special helium-filled cases. It is under lock and key; you can’t just go in there and rip out a page when you want. The Constitution is alive and protected, and yes, being challenged. But for such a little book that says so very much about a fair and just society, it is everywhere. It can fit into a pocket. It is in libraries, bookstores, schools, museums, houses, courts, as well as under helium filled cases in Washington, D.C. It is in our minds and hearts and our blood. It is foundational. In this country, when lies and tyranny occur, the Constitution goes to court. And we must pay attention. The courts are very busy these days.

Let’s remember: The Constitution is our contract with ourselves; “We the people of the
United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the
Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

In regard to ISIS and the capturing of people of color and immigrants, the Constitution clearly states that these actions are in violation of our contract for a lawful democracy. Amendment IV says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated … ” In 1787, we made a pact with ourselves: We committed to securing personal safety. We committed to protecting the rights of the people’s personal lives. Our founding fathers knew that the human person is subject to the passions of greed for money and lusts for power and that these lusts must not invade our personal property. To that effect, the people need protection. The Constitution of our democracy protects our people against such human passions with non-human guard rails: Laws. Amendment IV in the Constitution is a part of our contract to that effect.

Meantime, change is coming. Trump seems to be faltering. In polls, in public appearances, on TV and social media, he seems muddled, and even more than usually dissociative, confusing names of countries. It seems to us inevitable that at some point his health with fail him, and Republican support will become ever more fractured and disorganized. And as of Monday, Jan. 26, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sent in the National Guard to protect Minnesotans from ICE.  The National Guard are unmasked, and clearly marked with reflective yellow safety vests so as not to be confused with ICE. They are there to protect the people of their state against violence and the violations of the federal government.

In these times and with these next steps, let us not forget our pact with democracy and the contract we signed to follow the Laws in our Constitution. This contract has been the air we breathe. It’s how we grew up.  It was never not there. It is unimaginable that we should live in a world where protesters can be killed without investigation. We now have to shake ourselves and realize that it is the Constitution that’s under attack, not just us personally. And, even though the original document is locked up, it is vulnerable like any contract. We must fight for its survival because it is our country’s guide to law, order and justice when we are lost. It is our barn, still standing. It is our torch and our book protecting the sanctity of human rights and welfare. Let us not forget that as citizens we have signed that contract.

That’s it for now, stay warm and stay alert.

Daisy Broudy and Elly Donkin live in Amherst.