Have The Courage to Stand Your Ground

We live in a time of incredible hostility. Hatred can be expressed openly without consequences, provided such animosity is directed at the right group or person.

The internet and social media have made expressing opinions to a large audience fast and easy. Sadly, many choose to hide in the shadows of anonymity while directing all kinds of filth, threats, lies and profanity at those with whom they disagree. This must stop, and I know a good way to do it.

The founders envisioned a nation in which competing opinions dueled in the arena of ideas, believing in the intelligence and ability of the American people to discern which should prevail. This is why they gave us freedom of speech as a constitutional right. But if the founders could see us today, they’d make one important change to that right. They’d limit free speech to those willing to stand up and be identified as the author or speaker.

Now more than ever, trolls and cowards can accuse, sling mud, slander and tear people apart with ease by remaining anonymous. Just read the public comments on any CNN or Fox News story published online.

Even so-called professional websites such as LinkedIn aren’t immune from such things. The only remedy to the situation is to compel all content creators to use their real names. If someone truly believes their cause to be right, they should be willing to take a stand and have the courage to back their convictions publicly.

What raised my dander about this subject was mail I, and other registered voters in the Leyton School District, got last week. We received mail-in ballots for a special election on January 11 asking whether Rol Rushman and Suzy Earnest should be recalled from Leyton’s school board.

In the same batch of mail was a four-page letter leveling serious accusations against Mr. Rushman and Ms. Earnest, and calling on voters to recall them. The letter was unsigned.

I have friends on both sides of the Leyton issue. How to vote on the matter has been a source of considerable consternation on my part.

I, like so many others, wish we had access to all the information hidden from us by various parties involved for procedural and confidentiality reasons. Thankfully, the anonymous letter, decided the matter for me, and for three other voters I know of, and in a way I think whoever wrote it did not intend.

It takes courage to put ideas on paper and submit them to the public with your name attached. I do it every week here in these pages. I deal with the consequences of doing so, both good and bad.

The only opinions I personally entertain or give credence to come from those willing to put their name on them. Failure to do so demonstrates lack of conviction and lack of courage by not being willing to risk adverse consequences for entering the arena of ideas.

Our nation is in desperate need of courageous men and women willing to take a stand for what they believe. If you follow current events, deep down you know as I do that things will be getting worse before they get better. Such times need those willing to break the mold, shout “enough!” call a spade a spade and, like our founders, take personal risks to advance a just cause. It is not a time for the timid.