​Boots on the ground to keep the boots off our necks

By Sabrina Hornung

The quote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command” from George Orwell’s iconic novel “1984” has come up in conversation more times than I care to admit this month, which only re-establishes the fact that boots on the ground journalism is more important now than ever. As we see folks filming their reality and posting it in real time, government officials scramble to tell the public a very different story. They lie and innocent folks die. Let that sink in.

Somehow we’ve switched course and have found ourselves in some kind of ideological Bizarro World. Up is down, left is right. Folks on the left are quoting Charlie Kirk and the Bible on social media, as folks on the right reconsider the meaning of their Gadsden flags and waffle on first and second amendment rights — and now that the lefties are talkin’ about guns, maybe gun control is a novel concept.

Needless to say, the gotchas are flying left and right like the most dysfunctional badminton match of all time. Though, you have to give credit where credit is due, the Libertarians have remained consistent.

You’d think that with these changes in perspective, we’d at least be able to find some level of common ground and maybe we could talk about effective policy. We can see what’s not working. So how do we pull together to address it? Can we pull together to address it? Please tell me we’re not FUBAR…

Obviously there are core values that both sides embrace. After all, we’re still Americans, aren’t we? Are we still capable of civilly engaging in thought-provoking debate and conversation surrounding spirituality and our first and second amendment rights, or did that somehow become lost by not talking about religion or politics?

One set of values can’t just belong to one ideology and not the other, right? It’s almost like even silver linings have a gray area.

Can we at least agree that this aggression will not stand… man? That innocent folks shouldn't have to fear violence, murder and abductions at the hands of anyone, including the federal government? Sadly, it sounds more and more that folks are out for blood. Can we at least agree that this “death to those I disagree with” mentality isn’t normal — and mighty worrisome?

And this “common sense” government should involve at least some common sense. Like if we’re throwing billions toward immigration enforcement, wouldn’t it make more sense to throw those funds toward an accessible path to citizenship for these folks? Call me a radical, but investing the people’s money back into the people makes a little more sense than detaining and terrorizing…right?

I mean, if Americans were so concerned about comparing a vaccination record to showing your papers in Nazi Germany a few years ago, just think about how our immigrant neighbors are being treated in Minneapolis and, well, the rest of our country.

Is civility dying with democracy? What happened to America? What ever happened to “United we stand, divided we fall?” What happened to the American dream? Aside from our Indigenous neighbors, we’re all descendants of immigrants. America has clearly forgotten its roots and it’s showing.

America has also seemed to forget its history, too. We learned about the importance of resisting tyranny during the Revolutionary War, we learned the devastation of brother fighting against brother in the Civil War and we literally fought a war against fascism and now there’s a portion of the population who are so misguided that they seem to be embracing it with open arms, closed hearts and manipulated minds.

Bravos among the buffalo chips

The role of local journalism is to not only provide a community mouthpiece and to amplify the voices that are struggling to be heard under the mainstream noise, but it also serves as a watchdog to speak truth to power. This is why there are journalists present at city council meetings, school board meetings and county commission meetings. This is why county papers print meeting minutes from said meetings; within these minutes you can track their expenses to see what your tax dollars are funding. It’s an accountability factor.

Our writers, Bryce and Alicia, have been working tirelessly to keep up with the news cycle and we’re all pretty proud of them. Their boots are on the ground to keep the boots off our necks and we’re lucky to have them.

In fact, we’re lucky to have all of our writers and we’re lucky to have all of our readers to keep us going. We are a community mouthpiece and we welcome letters to the editor. What does the American dream mean to you? Drop us a line and let us know.

Reach High Plains Reader Editor Sabrina Hornung at sabrina@hpr1.com.