Following the events of Saturday, July 13 at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, I contacted several letter writers and asked them if I could pause publishing their letters to the editor for a few days.
As I am still processing what happened — how a presidential candidate’s campaign rally turned into something so unthinkable, so sad and so horrifying — I made the decision to give readers a chance to do so as well, by briefly pausing political letters to the editor on Chelsea Update.
As a member of the press, I am a firm supporter of the First Amendment, and people’s opinions matter.
But words also have consequences, the repercussions of which are sometimes not taken into consideration. Not just for the individual writer, but for the person or persons who are the subject of the letter, for their children or for their extended family and friends.
And please remember, the opinions expressed in letters to the editor on Chelsea Update are those of the individual who wrote them.
We, as Americans, have the right to express our individual opinions, have them published, and cast our votes in elections. These are some of the very tenets upon which our country was formed.
Letters to the editor increase dramatically during election cycles, and there was a time when they highlighted the positive aspects of a candidate’s campaign, and/or why the letter writer had chosen to support an individual or individuals. In recent years, that script has flipped, and letters have become reasons why people aren’t supporting a specific candidate or candidates.
I made the choice to pause letters to the editor to show respect for the people involved in the political process whose lives were forever changed in Pennsylvania Saturday — not just former President Trump who was injured, but also the spectator who was killed, as well as the two other people who were critically injured, their families and friends.
And I hope people will pause today — to really think about the people who have chosen to run for office in your townships and beyond. These are your neighbors, fellow human beings and Americans.
Political campaigns come and go, but the words you have chosen to have published in a letter to the editor are there forever. So please, think carefully about them before you hit send.
