Re: 'National news in the Village News' [Village News, Letters, 5/28/20]

Dear Julie,

I have also been a Fallbrook resident for over 20 years and have supported your newspaper,

recognizing it as part of our responsibility to local community and events. I also enjoy reading the letters in the opinion section and both letters from Maggie Rogan and yourself found

resonance with me for different reasons.

As you mentioned, there is a need for national news but I find it increasingly difficult to form

an opinion due to the many-sided perspectives that it can evoke. Is that necessarily bad? Probably not because it makes me think and reconsider, something that we perhaps all need to do more of.

Opinions are just that – not facts – and, even facts can be interpreted in multiple ways. Where am I going with this?

My final read was the opinion piece from Dr. James Veltmeyer, and I was fairly open to considering what he was saying until he brought politics into the picture as he did the week before by not so subtly stating that everything was a Democratic conspiracy – at least, in his opinion, regarding the restriction of many freedoms we all treasure. As a teacher, that’s when I said he sounds like one of my students in the seventh grade.

For goodness’ sake, if you want intelligent readers to buy your newspaper, can we please ask for

intelligent discussion without blaming a political party for all the ills of society? As we all know there is plenty of blame to go around and, if we truly want the freedoms we think we deserve, we must be willing to take equal responsibility for ourselves and for our fellow human beings because we are all flawed.

You cannot have freedom without the necessary recognition and practice of individual morality.

That is developed in our children through good parenting and an education which recognizes the innate goodness of a teacher who can then be a genuine authority. By citing ‘conspiracy theories’ as an argument in favor of promoting one idea over another is something, as a teacher, I would definitely have commented on as a poor example for a particular point of view. Certainly,

any respect I had for this doctor’s views was sadly diminished by his obvious angst toward a particular political party that he finds too easy to blame for society's ills.

As you say, there are many sources for news, and so I read The Epoch Times you enclosed, even though I found myself wanting to dispute some of the opinions it reaches. I conclude by copying

an opening paragraph from another news source that also touts their reputation for independent journalism. I also find this news source sometimes difficult to digest but think it might be good to include to add another perspective to our current events.

“During the COVID-19pandemic, independent news is more important than ever. You turn to Democracy Now! because you trust that when we’re reporting on this global crisis, our

coverage is not brought to you by the fossil fuel, insurance or weapons industries or Big Pharma. We’re bringing you stories from the front lines, and voices you simply won’t hear anywhere else,” from Democracy Now!

Thank you for encouraging me to respond to this ongoing conversation.

Warmly,

Jacqueline Develle