By Beth David, Editor
So, I got a call about a line in Stephen Grossman’s letter in last week’s issue. In it he says “Republicans want the right to shoot their enemies.”
I went back and forth with a couple of people on the phone, They say I was irresponsible to run it with that line. They say it is incendiary. I disagree. He is not telling anyone to do anything. He is talking about national Republican policies.
But, he starts his letter saying he went to the local Fairhaven GOP meeting, so people are saying it sounds like he is talking about our local guys. I disagree. In the paragraph before it, he says he left the meeting early, so clearly he is talking about Republican policies, not individuals.
Of course, he does take some pretty hard shots at what he did hear at the meeting, even if it was for only a few minutes.
Mr. Grossman has a right to his opinion. Some of the things written about liberals in this paper from letter writers are, arguably, worse.
I am not going to apologize for running Mr. Grossman’s letter. I did talk to him and he said: “I was talking about the logic of their ideas not any individual Republicans or what any individual Republican wants. I am attacking their ideas, not them as individuals.”
Please, read the paragraph before the one with the offending line to realize he left the meeting early. He was not talking about you as individuals.
Meanwhile, there was an actual school shooting after we went to press. We should be talking about gun policy, not ignoring it.
One person kept saying that what Mr. Grossman wrote was “disgusting.” Well, maybe it was. But, as I’ve said before, this isn’t Highlights for Children, it’s a newspaper. Sometimes stuff is disgusting.
I also spoke with Bob McConnell, the president of the local GOP, and offered him some space in the paper to rebut, but he declined. The offer still stands.
I encourage others to do the same. I’m happy to print opposing opinions.
Meanwhile, life goes on in North Fairhaven with the annual OLOA Feast! The best malasadas on planet earth had the longest line ever. On opening night the new security measures clearly did not deter feastgoers. See page 12 for story. And, it looks like the next generation has taken over in the malasadas booth, but there were no complaints. The tasy dough was as good as ever.
And Acushnet held its annual car cruise (page 13). Always a fun event.
Animal Control Officer, Terry Cripps is retiring. We’ll miss you, Terry. See page 14 for that. It’s the first piece from Justin Wilder. Hopefully, he’ll be contributing more in the next few months.
School started! Oh, Summer, where did you go? See page 19 for a few great shots by Jonathan Comey.
There’s other stuff in here, of course. While you’re paging through, be sure to notice who our advertisers are so you can tell them you saw their ads in the Neighb News.
Until next week, then, see ya,
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Heroes!
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Click here to download the 9/4/25 issue: 09-04-25 OLOA
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