It sounds as though Mr. Herrling (“We are way past hand-wringing with Trump, MAGA,” Nov. 9) isn’t aware of the efforts of millions of people, mostly women, who have been doing far more than just protesting in the streets ever since Trump’s inauguration in 2017.

Those of us engaged for years now are way past hand-wringing. We’ve been lobbying at State Houses, writing letters to the editor, running for office, getting elected to city councils, school boards and state legislatures, collecting signatures for referendums and more.

The good news is that we are well prepared for what’s to come. Our resistance muscles are stronger than ever. As Clarissa Pinkola Estés, American poet, psychoanalyst and author of “Women Who Run With the Wolves,” wrote in her 2016 piece titled “We Were Made For These Times,” “I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of mankind.”

We are all called right now to stand up, to the extent we’re able, and push back against the forces that want to destroy our democracy and return our society to the days when white men were the only ones with any real power or rights, and when they enriched themselves at the expense of everyone else.

I’m ready. I hope others are too.

Mary Ann Larson
Bangor