To the editor:

I am confused how The Messenger asks every day, “Let’s Hear Your Views,” but there is seldom, if ever, anyone’s views printed. I know firsthand it’s not because people aren’t expressing their views. I understand when they say they reserve the right to edit for length, taste and possible libel, as well as personal attacks and inflammatory statements about groups or individuals.

I am confused though why this doesn’t apply to our elected officials when they attack their political rivals in their editorials, but the paper won’t publish an editorial criticizing these attacks. We are at a dangerous time in this country’s history when owners of media outlets will only tell the stories they want you to hear.

We are at a dangerous time in this country’s history when the president can extort free legal representation from law firms as the president has done and our senators do nothing about it. We are at a dangerous time when the president can tell colleges and universities what they can teach and who they can enroll by extorting them with the threat of cutting off funding, and our senators do nothing. We are at a dangerous time when the president deploys the military against its own citizens, and our senators do nothing. We are at a dangerous time when our president orders masked agents to throw people in concentration camps without due process, and our senators do nothing about it.

Now we are at the most dangerous time of all! The president is extorting companies to take away the First Amendment right of freedom of speech of late-night hosts because he doesn’t like what they say about him, and once again our senators do nothing about it. We elected our senators to work for us, not the president. They took an oath to defend the Constitution but do nothing when the president breaks or side steps that Constitution on a daily basis.

It has been close to 100 years since Adolf Hitler came up with the playbook that the president is using right now. The only difference is we can see it coming and can do something about it. I email our senators constantly, and I urge everyone that doesn’t want to live under a dictator to do the same. As attributed to Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing!”

Doug Brand

Fort Dodge