Something I never thought I would ever say, “I have something in common with the U.S. President.”
President Joe Biden had a very difficult weekend where he struggled with advice from both friends and foes and ultimately made a very difficult and painful decision, to drop out of the 2024 Presidential Race.
When heard he’d made the decision I got a lump in my throat because I can imagine how difficult it was for him for I, too, am struggling with that decision. Oh, I am not running for the highest office in the land – heaven forbid! BUT I am serving my community as the editor of the local newspaper and I am also some years past my prime.
Just like President Biden.
The more I think about the decision he made, to give up running for a second term, the more respect I have for him because I know he resisted it all the way up to the very end. You could tell he didn’t want to do it, but with all the “heartfelt” and yes, mean-spirited criticism of him because of his age and poor performance at the so-called “debate” – and I use that term VERY loosely – he put aside his own feelings and hopes “for the good of the nation.”
I am only 10 years younger than the President but I see everyday how my abilities have declined. I am not as sharp as I used to be. I know that. I deal with it every day. I stumble with my words and, yes, my gait isn’t as sure as it used to be, either. I worry about falling each time I walk, especially on uneven surfaces – like out at Roosevelt Park where there are twigs and branches sometimes hidden in deep grass just waiting to trip me.
Yet here I am still working more than a 40-hour week scrambling like heck to stay on top of the Lake Region’s events and news – not nearly as serious a job as President Biden’s, but I take it seriously. Very seriously. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came back after being retired for two years.
We live in a world where people who report the news – many of them, but not all of them – are really just spouting their own opinions. Opinions have their place, but they are not facts. Opinions may be based on facts, but they are not facts.
The number one thing I have tried to maintain in my 20 years here at the Devils Lake Journal has been a balance. I am an Independent Voter – always have been, always will be. That’s not because I don’t have opinions of my own, but I try to see the “other side” of an issue, most issues. I have through the years placed a few stories in the paper – far fewer than you know – that I do not personally agree with, but firmly believe that both sides of an issue are worthy of print and consideration.
I have friends who do not agree with me on some issues and sometimes I wonder how we ever got to be friends and how in the world we remain friends even though we have some things we do not agree upon.
Yet, aside from those few issues we love each other and remain close friends and have for decades.
I have one friend that has been my friend since we both were four years old, yet politically we are worlds apart. That’s okay, I love and appreciate her and her opinions even though we do not agree with each other on some things, we do agree on many other things.
At the newspaper I have focused mostly on local news and left the opinions to others – like our columnists Tony Bender, Jodi Ingstad, David Adler, Perry Lundon, Father Bernard Pfau, Sarah Dixon Young among others.
If, on the rare occasion I use an AP story that is favorable, or unfavorable, to one political party or candidate, for example, I try to find stories that also have a similar view of “the other side” – it isn’t always easy to do and it may not end up in the same paper, but over all that has been my philosophy and for the most part I have succeeded in that – I feel pretty good about that.
I have been accused of being “Too Republican” AND “Too Democrat” – so I guess I have done my job!
I would hate to be dismissed as a “flaming radical” or “a tree-hugging liberal” or any such label that people dismiss others by, discounting their views, making them “Less Than.” Perhaps that’s why I rarely utilize social media. My relatives are always trying to get me on this platform or that – my response? “If I knew that a restaurant in town was known to poison its customers – not all of them – but some of them – why would I eat there?”
That’s what I see on Social Media – selective – random – occasional poisoning. No thank you!
I watch a lot of TV, but I choose to watch several different stations for news – I look for reporters and commentators that I feel I can trust – not just entertainers or people puking out their opinions as if they were facts – we used to call that “brainwashing” – just because someone says something louder or over and over and over again – doesn’t make it the truth. My life is blessed because I try to see more than one side.
A friend of mine where I sought help from years ago helped me see that in some things we see things black and white, as “either this or that” as if there are only two choices – however, in reality there are at least in most cases at least five choices. It’s not just black and white, it is shades of gray and other colors as well. That makes life interesting. And not just from one point of view, but something you see less and less of lately – impartiality.
What ever happened to impartiality?
You used to be able to rely on it with people like Walter Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley delivering the news, or even Paul Harvey, and his “And that’s the way it was…”
You used to be able to rely on it with the judicial system all the way up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Just because you read it doesn’t mean it is the truth.
To me, truth is important. Impartiality is important. Honesty is important. The list goes on and on.
Now I am faced with the same decision President Joe Biden just made in a very classy move, in my opinion. Should I continue to work at the Devils Lake Journal even though I know I am not at the top of my game? Is my working here at the newspaper keeping someone else from stepping into this role I have worked so hard to create and maintain? If I step aside, what if the new editor doesn’t give a toss about impartiality or presenting both sides of an issue? Surely I can’t be the only person who values truth, honesty, impartiality and so on.
Am I just holding on selfishly?
If I were gone, maybe then someone else would step up and do the job?
Why can’t I be classy and selfless like President Biden and let go?
