Getting Beyond ‘The Issues’
The murder of a noted doctor in a Kansas church this past week brings into clear focus the dangers we face when political discourse gets out of control and “issues” trump real life. Given that we had already started thinking about a number of current New York state battles over matters we care about, it’s ended up pushing our thoughts beyond consideration of states rights versus national identity to a deeper concern with matters of inherent humanity over those matters which, no matter how passionately we believe them, remain opinions.
Our original intent was to back up the state’s movement towards passage of new laws okaying marriage, and its accompanying benefits, for all. We also wished to speak out in favor of proposed laws strengthening the permitting process for guns, as well as those, on a state and by-county basis, that require marking, registration, and hiking the cost of bullets.
The first issue, we believe, is a matter of equality. The second is one of public safety.
Yet as we pondered these topics, we realized that they, and many other “issues” heading to primetime discourse via the current Supreme Court nomination of our state’s honored Sonia Sotomayor, will end up getting whittled down to discourse about states versus federal rights, strict constitutional interpretations versus considerations of societal change, the ideals of empathy versus greater laws… all, in the end, simply means of either backing up one’s viewpoint with a “majority wins” argument, or tearing down an opponent’s with a “no standing” issuance.
Which, in the end, leaves all the arguments and issues standing, as our President has so succinctly pointed out whenever he discusses the realities of abortion, and the dangerous powers of passion and persuasion in a different light.
Which also puts our modern media in a fresh perspective: especially the conflicts engendered when speedy, insatiable entertainment needs clash with the slower reality of the means by which news actually unfolds. Certain stories get repeated ad infinitum, pushing many that matter more off the page, and out of people’s minds. In turn, those minds get inflamed with “issues” that are basically unsolvable, building up people’s sense of powerlessness… which fuels their anger, their commitment to opinions, their crazy passions.
Which, once realized, at first led me to move towards abandoning this essay’s commitment to strong opinions regarding such current topics as gay marriage, gun rights and abortion. But then, in the end, strengthened it. Why? Because in the end, what I believe are only opinions, and hence of no offense. Just as all our readers’ thoughts and beliefs, voiced regularly in our letters columns, are equally valid, and in need of some level of respect.
In the end, I can only note that the problem may be one simply of focus. We’re spending too much time on all that splits us. When instead, we should look again to that which brings us together as communities in our neighborhoods, our towns, our school districts, our counties, our regions, our states, our nation, and our world.
Delusionally optimistic and grandiose, such thoughts? Perhaps, but so too are all “Isms and Ologies,” as a friend has put it in a book of the same name.
We are human because we dream.
PS

Thank You, Townsman
When any of a community’s significant voices goes quiet it’s always a loss. And so we note with some wistfulness the recent final issue of the Ulster County Townsman. Both in our news coverage and editorially, our papers and the Townsman frequently saw the same events very differently. That doesn’t mean one account was right or better or the other wrong or worse. It only means that each conveyed what its writers saw as important about events and their context.
In this newspapers’ early days, I used to anguish over whether every sentence in every story was genuinely objective and conveyed its meaning with as near-complete impartiality as possible. But some years ago, other publisher-friends helped me understand that the truth is it’s next to impossible to excise all evidence of a reporter’s perspective, that those perspectives are what give newspapers their distinctive voice, and that what we need to strive for in our coverage - instead of objectivity - is basic fairness informed by our own reasoned perspective and our knowledge of the issues. Whether the Townsman evidenced a similar point of view isn’t for us to say. What we will say is that the paper did its best to try and keep the community informed, which is what newspapers are supposed to do.
No one has ever published or edited a community newspaper believing they’d be well compensated for the work involved. It just isn’t that kind of business and no one who’s made that choice would ever harbor such an illusion. It’s a calling which people accept because they believe that providing good information will help their community. Some publishers and editors may have other reasons as well, but none more important than this. So we honor The Townsman and its former publisher and editor Blake Killin, as well as its previous owner and longstanding contributor, Marian Umhey. We often disagreed as to what courses of action might serve us all best, and on occasion we were deeply troubled by the words we read. But we respect the sincerity of the effort and the enormous amount of work and personal sacrifice involved. For that, we want to convey our thanks on behalf of everyone, and we wish Mr. Killin well in his future endeavors.
Over the years things and people have changed here in our valleys. Such changes no doubt, together with the Townsman’s paid-distribution model and a weak local economy all played a part in its eventual decline. But all local newspapers need their community’s support, both to advocate for the local interests we all share and to make sure there’s a place for every voice to be heard. In our case, we hope and fully expect to keep delivering your local news for many years to come.
BP