The March 19 issue of The Hutchinson Tribune contained a letter from an outraged reader taking Charles Melton (Editor) to task for calling Mr. Trump a “coward” in a previous column. This Outraged Reader claimed that “…you don’t call the President of the USA a coward.”
My reaction was, Wow! I thought our First Amendment rights guaranteed that we could call the President—any President—whatever we wished. The President is a public figure and a target for praise or disapproval. You remember that as a private citizen Mr. Trump felt perfectly free to call President Obama “Cheatin’ Obama,” “Barack Hussein Obama,” “Founder of ISIS,” and “the worst president in the history of our country,” to quote a few. Mr. Trump also called then President Biden “Sleepy Joe,” Crooked Joe,” and “retarded.” (That name-calling is courtesy of Mr. Trump’s own social media accounts.) So it’s okay for private citizen Mr. Trump to criticize sitting presidents, but not Mr. Melton? Or presumably anyone else? Really?
Our Constitution guarantees that Mr. Melton or anyone else can describe the current or any President however he sees fit. Our Outraged Reader can then be outraged and send a letter to Mr. Melton defending the President and very critical of Mr. Melton and that letter can then be published for all to read. That’s how it works under the First Amendment. No one is special—it works for everyone equally. What a concept!
Keith Richardson, Hutchinson