July 13, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: I hold these truths to be self-evident: 1) A house divided against itself cannot stand. 2) Both major political parties have, for some time, sown division rather than unity. Their leaders talk at each other rather than with each other, and their own self-interest prevents them from cooperating. 3) The inertia of the current situation supported by ridiculously expensive campaigning and blatantly biased (and hurtful) media can only be broken by “We the People.” Vote for change.
Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country. For when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for the people to dissolve the political bands which are working to divide them; they must resist with all of their might the powerful political tides. Resist the “We versus They” thinking: We are right and they are wrong; We are good and they are bad. Resist the talking point rhetoric that seems to simplify challenging questions: Guns are a birthright - guns are evil; immigration is run amok immigration made this country great. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. To find it requires the best thinking on both sides to cooperate. Instead of picking a side, let us rely on the better angels of our nature and seek to communicate, cooperate and compromise.
United we stand, divided we fall. These words seem trite only because they are so obviously true. Whoever is elected should represent all of us, not just those who voted for them. This type of representation requires real work rather than simple agreement with the herd. TIM KNUDSON Buena Vista
