Even 'wrong' opinions keep us free

Opinion: a belief, judgment, or way of thinking about something: what someone thinks about a particular thing

Fact: something that truly exists or happens: something that has actual existence; a true piece of information

Fiction: something invented by the imagination or feigned, specifically, an invented story — Merriam-Webster

“Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to be possible and truth doesn't.” — Mark Twain

The editor of this page has made a mistake and needs to own up to it.

The error has not been publishing reader comments that are mired in fiction rather than powered by fact. The error has been giving in to occasional frustration and sometimes trying to correct, via editor’s note, comments that are just plain wrong.

Trump did lose. It is the Democratic Party, not the Democrat Party. Humans do contribute to climate change. Bill Brooks is not Satan.

But the editor should shut up and stay out when people tackle these topics. The Opinions page should be a forum proudly displaying writers’ ability to effectively persuade or to make complete asses of themselves.

And it should be the readers, not the editor, who judge the veracity and the legitimacy of the arguments being made.

In news columns, The Press must do its best to ensure sources are quoted or paraphrased accurately even if their comments come from some screwball universe.

The Press should work relentlessly to protect the rights of individuals to express themselves on Opinions pages and through other commentaries, no matter how much the editor or publisher disagrees with the expressed sentiments — even when they’re provable pieces of poo presented as irrefutable truths.

The more editors — be they newsprint and ink wretches or social media masterminds — limit or alter or chastise the opinions of others, the closer we all get to inhabiting a closed room where freedom’s oxygen is expiring. We also lose the awesome ability to think critically because we will no longer be challenged by those who disagree with our viewpoints.

Misinformation and disinformation are best vanquished by intelligent rebuttal, not by censorship or alterations. When you hit the mute button on someone else’s microphone, you not only force the speaker to simply pick up other microphones but you give that person a strong case to argue: “What are they so afraid of that they don’t want others hearing what I have to say, in my own words?”

So be not afraid. Pick up a pen and call “B.S.” when you see it.