April 4, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: Anyone remotely familiar with the history of our nation and the basis upon which we are governed knows that there is a fine line between how our laws are made and how they are executed. Our nation’s 47th president in less than 100 days has repeatedly stepped over that line. He governs as if no such line exists. In doing so, his primary achievement will have been to produce an unintended result: chaos.
This chaos stems from not only a misreading of our Constitution, but a failure to respect those with different views. It stems from a lack of trust in what others believe tomorrow will bring.
There is no democracy when the people are ruled by only one point of view. For just under 250 years we have been ruled by following certain generally accepted procedures and rules. There is something to be said for stability.
That is why fear has not part of our history. We are not descended from fearful people. Our money even spells it out: In God We Trust. While you are free to agree with these four simple words or ignore them, there remains another question: Are you free to remain silent? It all depends on desire.
Freedom starts with desire. When the Voice of America was shut down, the desire of 460 million people was weaken. When an aggressor is rewarded with territory conquered there is a desire to conquer more.
Hold it, Dave, let those national papers cover complicated world affairs. Why bother local folks? Because they gave us our name by doing something unprecedented on April 19, 1775, to be precise. The first Lexington, the one in Massachusetts, fired “The Shot Heard Round the World.”
So today I’m happy to report that no king is telling me what to do. At least, not yet. I’m free to write that on Nov. 5, 2024, I made a mistake. Voters in America are allowed to say that. Even presidents. DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County
