GUILFORD-I congratulate The Commons on presenting two views on the Acceptable Community Conduct Ordinance in a clear, well-argued format. These kinds of debates are vital to our community, and The Commons serves us well.
That is why I was surprised that you printed the letter "Concerns over software amount to thinly veiled bigotry," as it was, as it consisted largely of ad hominem attacks.
Political disagreements are fine but printing wild accusations calling a community member an "anti-American, aspiring insurgent" with an "anti-semitic agenda" who is a "proxy" of Iran in Vermont, is dangerous and unprofessional. Such language can have physical repercussions, especially in these polarized, violent times.
At the least, I expect that the editor should have asked the writer to restate his arguments without the personal attacks. If he is incapable of making a reasoned argument, which should be directed to the group, not just the one who signed the letter on its behalf, and refrain from hate speech, then it should not have been printed.
GUILFORD-This last election proves once again that the Democratic Party is like Lucy with the football - and we are Charlie Brown. The Kamala Harris we saw in the first week of her campaign, who seemed like a real human being, a breath of fresh air after all the...
GUILFORD-Today, it is Gaza that burns. And tomorrow? The story of civilization is full of sieges, atrocities, massacres... European colonialism, the African slave trade... the genocide of the original inhabitants of the Americas... the Holocaust... today, the atrocity in Gaza is the face of colonial civilization. And it is...
These are difficult days for the rule of democracy, openness, fairness, and just plain decency. Every day it seems the bar is lowered with no end in sight. This can make us feel powerless, at least at effecting positive change at the world or national level. Yet we have the important power in our hands to safeguard our values close to home, in our local communities, and that is where we can start. I truly hope we in Newfane will...
Congratulations on your reporting on antifa and white supremacy in southern Vermont. I appreciate the difficulty of reporting from sources that must remain anonymous. You courageously did not let that stop you, and you brought our community very important information. And you handled the delicate matter of the doxxed white supremacist well. It would have been easier, I am sure, to just not deal with this, but you chose to inform us of all you knew and to tell us...
If we as white Americans - presumed, I suppose, to be “well intentioned” toward our sisters and brothers of color -want to understand Trumpism, may I suggest we have but to read James Baldwin, who already in the 1960s and '70s had Trump's number? In truth, he foretold Trump's coming. Because Trump is America, writ large. No, we are not “better than that.” I dare to say, as a white man and as one who has read Baldwin, that Trumpism...
For many, many people, their first reaction to the election in the United States of America, even as it was happening, was shock and revulsion that the U.S. people did not repudiate Donald Trump with a stronger margin of victory for Joseph Biden. After four years, everyone knows what Trump stands for: open white supremacy, authoritarianism, misogyny, white resentment, calls to violence, cruelty, and so on. That he nevertheless received 72 million votes is a clear statement of the sickness...
Vermont Fish and Wildlife says the deer population is too large, and so they will issue more muzzle-loader licenses this year. Good, I get it. Too many deer means both an increase in Lyme disease and over-browsing of young trees, which damages the forests. Now, to meet that same logical objective, how about stopping the wanton slaughter of coyotes? The forests are out of balance not because we issue too few hunting licenses, but because we have killed off all...