Letter: Discussion on virus is overlooking the public interest

Posted 4/8/21

To the editor:

John Adams was one of the foremost of the American patriots wanting to break from England. However, to his great credit, when the British soldiers in the “Boston …

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Letter: Discussion on virus is overlooking the public interest

Posted

To the editor:

John Adams was one of the foremost of the American patriots wanting to break from England. However, to his great credit, when the British soldiers in the “Boston Massacre” stood trial, it was John Adams who defended them. Before the court, he said, “Facts are stubborn things.” He proceeded to present the facts — that is, the truth.

In all important questions, it is the truth we are after.

In our current affair with the virus, one of our public voices, (WPRO AM radio host) Matt Allen, has been more willing than others to look into the facts. CNN, NPR, Fox News, The New York Times are failing us on this topic. This is because their sponsors and owners have a vested interest.

But the one interest we are overlooking is the most essential one: the public interest. Matt Allen has been talking about going back to normal. We are beginning to see just how valuable “normal” is, aren’t we? We often don’t appreciate valuable things until we lose them. It is clear that powerful parties behind the scenes have their own plan, which I’m afraid we are all following rather too closely. In important ways, those parties do not plan to go back to normal.

Their power is evident in the thorough stonewalling of many facts. As someone said recently, “The American l legal system recognizes that until you hear all sides of a dispute, you cannot know what is going on.” If we were having an open public discussion, there would be no need to hide the truth about the cycle threshold, or the lack of necessity of masking, or to overlook the real harm perpetuated in the schools, or the very good opposing reasons why vaccines are not advisable for many people. 

In a free country, the people ought to be able to hear all sides on making important decisions. Why do the powers that be not want us to have a candid discussion? It is no doubt because the truth does not fit with someone’s plan. A good teacher, a good adviser or a good physician wants to consider all the facts. 

On that long-ago day in Boston, John Adams took up an unpopular cause because he knew that the public, including the detractors, would benefit from a fair discussion.

David Ellis

Portsmouth

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