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The center did not hold

Letter to the Editor - From the February 02, 2009 issue of High Country News by Denver Johnston

The thing that has kept me reading HCN through the years has been the balanced reporting and presentation of different viewpoints, a refreshing voice in a nearly bipolar political world. But I have to say that I am sensing a shift in the flavor of HCN articles and editorials. The Dec. 22/Jan. 5 issue is a completely one-sided Bush-bashing celebration without any counterpoint or opposing view anywhere in sight. This is not to say there isn't plenty worth bashing, but Bush had a constituency (mining, timber, ranching, fundamentalists, etc.) and HCN should have provided space for those viewpoints. The value HCN provides is the intelligent presentation of diverging viewpoints -- and in the end that is the only hope we have of building common understanding and a middle ground. Otherwise, we will continue swinging on the political pendulum, first to one side and then the other, and the decisions we make as a society will suffer for it. 


Denver Johnston
Scott Bar, California

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