Editor,

Editor

I am grateful to Bill Merrill insofar as his letter (Nov.7) lambasting Dr. Michael Seraphinoff’s opinion piece (October 30) led me to read it. Seraphinoff’s writes movingly of his fondness for Whidbey Island where he has lived for fifty years. What upsets Merrill are three paragraphs in this opinion piece criticizing Donald Trump because, in his view, Seraphinoff’s accusations are “biased and unfair.” What puzzles me is that Seraphinoff’s statements are based on what anyone who observed Trump’s rallies would see and hear. He references Trump’s lies about immigrants eating pets and the absurd suggestion that Kamala Harris is a Fascist, Marxist, Communist. I wonder if Merrill does not pay attention to what the man whom he adores actually says.

Yet, he does take to heart Trump’s call for the censorship of any criticism of himself and his MAGA followers. Merrill demands that the Whidbey New-Times not publish opinion pieces that are critical of the president-elect. So much for respect for freedom of speech! Now, I did learn from Merrill’s letter that there is new political category: Marxist Liberals. What is next? Republican Democrats, Christian Atheist? The world is full of surprises, indeed.

Steen Halling

Greenbank