By ROBERT D. LARSON | Norwalk and Ridgeville
In preparation for the April 5 election, I’ve been catching up with recent issues of the County Line and other local papers. I want to thank you for providing information on local races, the issues people are campaigning on, and the candidates. This is a vital public service that I am both grateful for and happy to support as a loyal subscriber. Local papers play a key role in maintaining some level of functioning democracy in our conflicted society, even as reactionary forces on the federal and state levels seek to move us toward authoritarianism. My sincere wish is that debates about school boards and other local issues can be engaged with honesty, decency, and kindness, so often missing in the profit-driven media landscape of today.
I am a dedicated reader of Backtalk, much valuing its intelligence, wit, and candor, such as when shining a light of truth on the lies of the Infowars conman who successfully bilks too many of our most gullible fellow citizens. The Parker women are a local treasure, and I thank Mr. Parker for supporting them.
Finally, I am honored to share space with the likes of Danell Sulik of Kendall and Dena Eakles of Ontario. Danell’s March 17 letter explaining the clear difference between equality and equity while showing their relations is brilliant: well-written with clear examples and simple logic, kind, and free of badmouthing others. Dena’s warning about the use of emotion-laden buzzwords to push agendas that amount to censorship is also worth taking to heart.
If we practice decency and democracy here in the pages of local newspapers and in our public meetings, we can help fend off the tyrannies of big money.