Open Letter to US Senator Joe Manchin

Herein I react to your Davos comments that follow.

“The problem that we have is the open press system and basically all the platforms. So you're able to have five platform, social platforms, you can basically personify the extremes as somebody who is extremely right or extremely left, and it seems like that is the majority speaking. They're not the majority, but they're basically driving everybody to make a decision."

Senator, I visited your state and found the people there to be cordial, hard-working, literate, and intelligent. Their ‘platforms’ of information number far beyond five. I, and millions like me, opted out of TV “news networks” years ago. The ‘five’ platforms you mention, be they social- or network-news related, now number in the hundreds via cable networks and internet websites. An “open press system” is not the problem. The problem is a far-left liberal media that bends the news to comply with the DNC’s political objectives. You must know that Sir. I suspect demands on your time preclude you from consulting sites such as YouTube and Rumble. Nowadays, a declining minority of people use magazines, newspapers, and television channels as their primary messaging sources. You might poll your constituents for confirmation.

Many Americans are much more enlightened on current events than you appear to credit them for having. Your comments continued:

"What side are you on? Are you on this side or this side? And in America, there's only one side: the American side. It's not the Republican side or Democrat, we should be coming together to solve the problems from a different angle, but the problem's [sic] are the same, but the bottom line is we don't. We try to basically put blame on- ‘That's your problem. That's not mine. So it's your fault.’ That's not who we are. Our democracy will correct itself. The public and constituents will command that and demanded it that we correct it and come back to that sensible center.”

As for who is on what side of any political debate, you surely know, since you are an intelligent and well-educated man, that dualistic political division has been a fixture here as far back as in the Colonies, ever since the pro-Hamilton v. pro-Jefferson dueling papers. And that ying-yang debate continues into the 50 states today. I suggest you define a “sensible center.” It can become the worst of the three choices. America is a diversity of religions and ethnicities. The strength of the legendary melting pot is not in shared political opinions, any more than it is in shared food preferences, favorite football teams, or desired vehicle brands. The pot never melts; it just gets additional ingredients. You were quoted as having said, “Our democracy will correct itself.” Related: Sen. Joe Manchin apologizes after trashing 'open press system' on Davos panel

Self-appointed elites shall claim control of the earth’s future

The inherent incongruence in that statement is between “democracy” and “correct”. Genuine democracies do not need correction. Correction becomes a need when a nation is in danger of no longer continuing to be a democracy. And many Americans perceive that threat exists today, Senator. I do. Someone important once said that the meek are blessed because they stand to inherit the earth. But no one important says the self-appointed elites shall claim control of the earth’s future. Because if they did have control, it won’t be worth inheriting. In the 20th Century, elitists tactics were tried by other self-appointed chosen ones at national levels, with disastrous consequences for much of the world. Those today who assume the role of the select ones have fallen under a Davosian spell of self-appointed exceptionalism. Long a behavioral characteristic of Utopian futurists. So, why, Senator Manchin, were you there at all? And did you, like others there, fly there and further pollute the atmosphere?