Musings – on the editor’s mind

What is the purpose of this small newspaper, perched on the periphery of the continent? How does the La Conner Weekly News best serve its readers? What is the publisher’s responsibility to both you and the times?

At the dawn of our country – when we were a country in name only – a series of, yes, political essays titled “The American Crisis” were published starting in December of 1776. You might know the first sentences:

“These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph,”

Thomas Paine wrote that and saved a country.

Editorials on this page are not going to save a country or even this community. But they are going to question what is going on, during an election season like no other, in the halls of power and by those wielding the most power.

My soul is certainly being tried and yours probably is, too. I am not shrinking from that and expect you want the crisis named for what it is, also.