Silencing Al Fonzi would be a mistake 

I couldn't help but notice two letters to the editor ("Valuable space" by Raoul Wise on May 30 and "Dear New Times" by Roger Burton on June 6) that call for silencing Al Fonzi. This may or may not be a coordinated effort, but character assassination is part and parcel of the strategy of the left (the Marxists, the Communists, the Islamists, and the Democrats) in their effort to silence those with ideas and arguments they just cannot intellectually counter.

We see this every day on college campuses with limitations and interruptions of free speech only when the speech comes from a conservative. We see examples of it in the media such as when the Democratic National Committee won't allow any presidential debates to be hosted by Fox News. We see it in public when conservatives are unwilling to express their support of the president by wearing MAGA hats for fear of retribution and violence.

The left would like to be the sole provider of ridiculous ideas and distortions of reality like the Green New Deal, no crisis at our border, Medicare for all, the president should be in prison, a living wage for all, homes for the homeless, free abortion up to date of birth, replace capitalism with socialism and so on. Their only barrier to accomplishing this stupidity is us conservatives and our ability to express our feelings about the goodness of our country and the need to protect our Constitution.

As someone who does not know Al Fonzi, has never met him nor communicated with him and, in fact, rarely reads his articles as I'd prefer to spend my time reading those of the opposition, I think it would be a big mistake to remove his column from the New Times. Who, exactly, would you find to replace him that could represent the thoughts and ideas of conservatives while at the same time being acceptable to the left? The answer is no one!

Al Fonzi is a voice that should be heard in our community, and if the left has a problem with his point of view, their option is to respond with better ideas that I'm sure New Times would be happy to publish. And if they have no better ideas, perhaps they should wake up and join us, the team that's winning.

Gary Wechter

Arroyo Grande