TRUMP: Why press matters

In his Dec. 21 letter to the editor (REBUTTAL: Time to Chime In), Ralph Hallock asked — and answered — some interesting questions: Do I support every decision President-elect Trump makes? No. Will he make some mistakes? Yes. Will he be a good president? Yes, probably one of the best we have ever had.

Then he poses the last question: Should Trump stiff-arm the national press and communicate directly with the voters? Yes.

We should all realize that without a national press, and its close interaction with the president, the answers to the first three questions are pointless. How will we know of every decision the president makes? How will we know if he makes any mistakes? How do we know he will be a good president? Are we going to be able to see past Mr. Trump’s exaggerated blustering bullcorn to be able to determine the answers to these questions? Good luck with that.

Are we going to be able to determine the answers to the above questions when the president-elect apparently has a minimal amount of attention span to only provide 140-character messages on Twitter? Good luck with that.

We need a free, national press precisely because We the People have an inherent distrust of those in powerful places. There’s a very good reason that the First Amendment exists. We cannot allow Mr. Trump — or any government official — to simply “stiff-arm” the press.

JOE LYKINS

Coeur d’Alene