I always appreciate Chad Beatty sharing his observations in the “From The Publisher’s Desk” column. I wish he’d write it more often. The column appears to be the work of an honorable family and businessman who truly adores his country.
However, an important detail was omitted in his analysis of the U.S. Constitution, and how it applies to “a never-ending cycle of news which portrays Americans bashing the very system that allows them the freedom to bash it” (March 22-28 issue).
Who are the “naughty boys and girls” Beatty was scolding? He didn’t specify anyone by name.
I suppose he was referring to an outspoken woman from the Bronx, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the avowed “democratic socialist” who stunned observers last year when she unseated an incumbent Democrat in a party primary.
Regardless of whether people agree or not with the ideas promoted by Ocasio-Cortez, all true American patriots would at least respect how she earned her political office through the same democratic process of citizens voting that has sustained our republic for so long.
To me, constant media noise about which side is right—Democrat vs. Republican, communist vs. fascist, conservative vs. liberal, Fox News vs. CNN, etc.—is the real problem confronting us.
The Pledge of Allegiance says we are “one nation” and “indivisible.” Yet, at every political level, it seems as though an epidemic of bitter partisanship—fueled by emotionally charged social and traditional media—is driving us ever farther apart.
Media professionals and citizens everywhere could work harder to stop intensifying this public division. The practice of Americans being genuinely considerate toward each other, especially those with opposing views, is the solid bedrock underneath our founding principles.
- Lawrence Goodwin, Milton
