Beginning in May of this year, this newspaper has refused to publish letters to the editor about national politics, stating that such letters must focus on local issues and news only.  Citizen advocacy is important, possibly essential, at every era of our national life. Welcome or not, it is a fact that national leadership and proposed and enacted national policies have a bearing on all parts of the country. Even the sleepy South Coast of New England.

This era of national life is, dare I say, particularly fraught.  It’s merely the health and welfare of the Constitution of the United States in the balance.  This is not a time for sleepy apathy.  It is a time for courageous advocacy based, one hopes, on facts, reason, and respect.

Will Newman

Tiverton