Heartland Signal shared the closing comments of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's State of the State address, and I want to inject it straight into my veins. He's reassuring us that America still loves its people, but it's saying it in a way we might not be used to hearing it:

It's not speaking in anthems, or flags, or ostentatious displays of patriotism. It will never come from the people who say the only way to love America is to hate Americans. Love is found in every act of courage, large and small, taken to preserve the country we once knew. You will find it in homes, schools, churches, and art. It is there; it has not been squashed.

Over the last twelve months, I've heard love start to shout here in Illinois. I heard it from the bicyclers who showed up in Little Village every day during Operation Midway Blitz to buy out tamale carts so the vendors could return to the safety of their homes. I heard it from the parishioners who formed human chains around churches so immigrants could worship. I heard it from the moms in the school pick-up line who whipped out their cameras and their whistles. I saw it in the face of every Midwesterner who put on their heaviest coat and protested outside on the coldest day.

I would be remiss if I did not include this powerful sentence: "Only the weakest of people believe that love is the weakest of weapons."

I don't know if Pritzker has presidential ambitions, but that sure sounded much more presidential than the Orange Menace in the White House now.