So much hand-wringing over Democrats’ dismal week

The hand-wringing and hyperbole over the Democrats’ loss in Virginia would give anyone the impression that this was the horrible result of incompetence.

Wrong. Virginia has a long history of voting for governor of the opposite party of the sitting president. That should quell some of the media hysteria. It’s true President Biden is having a rough time passing his agenda with one or two senators throwing sand in the gears. But our president has already put programs in motion and passed progressive legislation to help dig us out of the mess created by the former president and his Republican enablers.

A well-meaning but sometimes misguided media gives the public a confusing message of where we are. The truth is, we are so much better off than during the reign of Trump. President Biden will get his programs passed, but too much public opinion is shaped by misinformation, social media and a press emphasis on negative aspects of the story.

We all need to engage in critical thinking and realize what would happen to our democracy if we gave up and allowed an authoritarian regime to take over.

Linda Ribner, Lauderhill