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