Told us what to think

My opinion of your Dec. 13 editorial: First, I don’t know why your editorial writers have to express opinions at all. Whatever you think has the possibility of finding some reader(s) disagreeing. Your readers are diverse, so why not do what you suggest: Let them decide for themselves.

Secondly, to let Trump off so easy by saying he is not the first president to lie is to ignore the tabulation that he has misled (lied) over 20,000 times; this puts him in a unique category and is not justified by pointing out other presidents have lied.

Third, you seem to be doing what you criticize, namely, telling people what to think. I realize you write editorially but you say, “journalism should not be about taking sides.” But the reality that Trump is labeled a liar doesn’t mean people accept that judgment any more than his most devout insisting Trump does not lie. Why can’t people be trusted to make their decisions about everything they read, even when something is called a lie or the truth?

Fourth, what is your evidence that those who hate Trump cheer when he is labeled a liar? You can disagree with someone and call them a liar without hating them. There are some who hate Trump; my guess is that there are likely many more who don’t hate him but dislike his actions and policies.

Fifth, the surveys you cite indicating a new low in the public trusting the media are perhaps influenced by those who call the media “fake news.” This is an indictment of Trump and his base, who do it consistently.

Finally, it seems appropriate to label a statement a lie when it denies evidence, i.e., Trump saying he got more votes than Clinton or Biden. That is a lie because it is not supported by any evidence. People who insist Earth is flat, a few thousand years old, and the center of the universe may not be guilty of lying, but certainly would be thought by science and most people as misinformed. To say they lie is an editorial opinion not unlike what you wrote. RICHARD RUBLE

Siloam Springs