To The Kewanee Voice:

I was sickened to read the anonymous, threatening letter sent to The Kewanee Voice from a group espousing “MAGA values.” However, despite repeatedly using that phrase throughout, the group never defines those values – that is, until the last paragraph of their letter.

That’s when it becomes clear that their MAGA values only espouse hatred, are only about despising “gays, trans, illegals, suspicious immigrants, BLM, left wing liberals, including parents of, friends of, and sympathizers of.” Further, they believe that to acknowledge that any of those groups have any rights in our country is to be branded a terrorist.

How many among us truly believe that such vile values were the “the values upon which our country was founded;” “the very principles that have shaped and guided our society for centuries;” are “what has long been the cornerstone of our nation’s moral framework;” have been “instrumental in fostering the values of respect, responsibility, and loyalty that have made our country a beacon of hope and prosperity for the chosen people;” or they are “reflecting and promoting the values that unite us as a nation?”

I, for one, do not. And I fervently believe that the vast majority of those connected in some way to Kewanee do not as well.

Mark Twain once said that in this country, we’ve been blessed with three immeasurably precious gifts: the freedom of conscience, the freedom of speech, and, of course, the prudence to practice neither of them.

Now is not the time to be prudent and let these abhorrent sentiments pass without response. I ask anyone who cares about Kewanee to condemn such “values” and write in support of The Kewanee Voice. We can disagree about policy, but we must agree upon decency.

Dean Karau