The Truth Doesn’t Need A Villain

Missouri voters went to the polls in August under one congressional map. Now, just weeks later, they’ve been told that map will not be the map used for the November general election. It’s confusing. It’s frustrating. And it’s tempting to immediately ask: Who is to blame? But what if the answer isn’t as simple as we want it to be? In this episode, I sit down with Act for Missouri to talk through the mess surrounding Missouri’s congressional redistricting and the difficult position voters now find themselves in. The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the 2025 congressional map will not be used for the November 2026 election and that the 2022 map remains in effect. But beyond the legal details is a bigger question: Are we actually interested in the truth—even when the truth doesn’t give us a convenient person to blame? We have become increasingly quick to pick a side, defend our people, attack the other side and decide who is “right” before we’ve even worked through the facts. And I think that says something about us. It seems that in crisis after crisis, too many people care more about being right than doing what is right. Could this situation have been avoided? There are certainly lessons to be learned, and there may be changes that need to be made. But acknowledging that something could have been handled differently is not the same thing as proving that someone acted outside the law. Sometimes the facts are complicated. Sometimes multiple things can be true at the same time. And sometimes the answer isn’t finding the perfect villain—it’s fixing the system that allowed the problem to happen. That’s where I believe we need to go from here. Rather than spending all our energy pointing fingers, we the people need to demand better laws and better processes so Missouri voters aren’t put in this position again. Because this isn’t ultimately about protecting one political side or proving another side wrong. It’s about whether we care enough about truth, law and good government to fix what isn’t working. The question isn’t just, “Who’s to blame?” The question is, “What are we going to do about it?” Act4MO socials: Facebook, X, Rumble, YouTube MO Constitution Art. 3 Sec. 49 HB1 Articles about Supreme Court warnings to SOS Amendment 6 (on November 2026 Ballot) Nadine@9’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Nadine@9’s Substack at nadineat9.substack.com/subscribe