I read with part amusement, part sadness the letter to the editor by Edward Strawser (Oct. 26) in which he lamented the “90% Republican biased” editorials and cartoons “ALWAYS mocking our current president (and definitely not even funny).” He was upset that The Signal is, in his opinion, biased and not representative of the diverse community we call home.
One of the primary roles of the free press is to challenge and even agitate the people in power. Sometimes that’s done with an opinion contrary to your own. We have seen social media giants Facebook and Twitter refuse to allow former President Donald Trump the freedom to post anything at all. For our “protection,” they say.
Well, I don’t need protection from views contrary to my own. I have the intelligence and education to think and critically evaluate the validity of something. However, I can only do that when I’m allowed to see all points of view and have exposure to the facts, unencumbered by the filter of a “benevolent agent” trying to shelter me from upsetting ideas.
If The Signal was trying to suppress liberal viewpoints, they could have deleted Edward’s email. They didn’t do what Twitter and Facebook do. They welcome contrariness. We all should be open to differing opinions and insist that they be protected. All types of speech, political commentary and ideas should be heard and expressed, no matter how ugly or upsetting they are.
Edward should be grateful that there is a forum to see views different from his own. I’m sure if he wanted to read a paper with an overwhelming left-leaning view, there are tons of media outlets locally and nationally. I’m kind of glad that we have a local paper that is diverse and independent and prints opposing viewpoints.
Art Tom
Valencia
