By Joe Rector
Well, the week’s been one for change. I spent it recovering from the Covid I contracted on a failed trip to see Niagara Falls. The weather remained brutally hot until the rains on Wednesday, and now I need a sweater or long-sleeve shirt to work at 5:30 a.m. or even sit on the screened porch in the mornings. The dry weather has helped leaves to fall, but I’m hoping my purchase of a leaf collector makes this job easier; I’m just too old to fool with cleaning up the leaves twice a week until January. The biggest event of this past week, however, is the banning of press outlets by the president.
This action is a big deal to me. For one, I am allowed to write for this paper. No, the publisher and editor might not always agree with my views, but for the most part, they allow me to speak my mind. That is what’s at stake right now with this ban on some organizations. I understand that the president doesn’t like to see or hear negative things about himself or his actions. None of us do. However, the First Amendment of the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”
Our country is in flux now, the likes of which I don’t recall. Yes, Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon were a demoralizing and unsettling situation for the U.S. So was the assassination of President Kennedy. During those times, we simply lost our way. The greatest country reeled as it tried to find its footing.
Now, we have extreme factions that seem to be trying to tear the country apart. The right and the left refuse to work together. Their actions remind me of a child who grows angry with playmates, collects his toys and goes home. Representatives should be working on solutions to the major problems of this country and their effects on this country. For once, having both sides work toward common ground would be nice. Perhaps we need to remind both sides that governing isn’t supposed to be about parties; it’s supposed to be about the people.
Too much news from both sides is ongoing these days. I miss the thirty-minute national news with a presenter like Walter Cronkite. Joe Friday said it best when he uttered, “Just give me the facts.” Straight news is objective. It simply tells the truth. Then other pundits can argue about the underlying stories.
The key is that we, who are average, working folks, want the news and deserve the news, whether the president or any politician likes it or not. The time for individuals to think for themselves is here. We don’t need to listen to talkers who add their slants to stories. I figure many of us have enough common sense to see what the right thing to do is, and most often, our views, regardless of party affiliation, come down in the same place: the middle.
I hope the courts will stop this ban of certain news sources. It’s the right of individuals to choose the news to which they listen. In the end, we must protect freedom of the press and of speech if our desire is to remain a democracy. No one has the power to take that from us, unless we sit back and allow it to happen.
