Who hasn’t heard rhetoric like this lately?

“Within the last three years a man has been elected as President of the United States who probably more than any other man, has disappointed the hopes of his best and truest friends, has with impunity trampled upon the constitutional rights of one portion of the people to promote the unconstitutional and oppressive claims of another and minor portion. And no administration that has proceeded it will stain the page of our national and political history with so many deep and dark spots of ignorance or wickedness and depravity.”

These words were printed on the pages of the county seat newspaper right here in Green County.

Not surprised? We’re just a mouthpiece against the president and will say anything to besmirch the President.

So proves the paragraph above, published in The Monroe… Sentinel about President Franklin Pierce in 1855.

How dare we, right?

Truth be told, as we look at today’s Monroe Times, we don’t have time to dissect federal politics. We’re too busy telling the community’s story of existing during a pandemic. We want to focus our pages on what people are doing to make life as pleasant as possible. No matter what cataclysm that’s seemingly about to end mankind as we know it, life goes on. We have all the excitement of a Marvel movie without the super heroes.

Although the talking heads with their hour-long opinion shows may want you to think the world is coming to an end, it’s not. That narrative exists only because it’s really good for the ratings of their crass, blah-blah existence.

We need more objective news and less opinion. There are times when opinion is important, as Abraham Lincoln said, nothing gets done without the sentiment of the people. Those were true words when he said them. The difficulty today is our “blah, blah” media doesn’t cover news anymore. It’s too expensive to produce. Instead, it programs hours and hours of opinion, which is short on facts and long on divisiveness.

I watched some of President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday night and I think the best moment came when he proved he could drink water out of a glass while holding it with one hand. Opponents of the president had focused heavily all week before the rally that Trump had difficulty walking down a ramp and drinking from a glass when he visited West Point to give its commencement speech.

As if the national media doesn’t have bigger fish to fry than Trump’s ability to walk or drink water. When he had the opportunity on Saturday, Trump explained he took his time walking down a slippery metal ramp because he was wearing leather-soled shoes. He could have hurried and fell, which the press would have loved, he explained, but instead he took his time and didn’t fall, which the press tried to turn into something other than it was. And by press, we’re again talking about the “blah, blah” talking heads who are contributing nothing to our nation other than taking up space that could be replaced by a reputable news show, but networks keep making money off the “blah, blah.”

Usually at this point of writing a column on these subjects, I proverbially wad it into a ball, throw it in the garbage and start writing something more upbeat. It’s difficult to go through one’s career regularly making people unhappy. Yet there are times when you also shouldn’t ignore the truth.

The harsh rhetoric about politicians has existed ever since civilization was able to express ideas about leadership. In the early days of the broadcast media there were champions of truth and justice like Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. But with them came Walter Winchell and Hedda Hopper.

I like to think of the Monroe Times as a family newspaper of miscellaneous reading that provides news of interest to people living in the Green County area, covering government and protecting the public’s right to know. We’re relevant in the community and we’re not committed to “blah, blah.”

— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.