To the editor:

I am writing to thank the Enterprise for printing our letters to the editor over so many years. It’s an invaluable community service that we should all greatly appreciate.

The Founding Fathers recognized both the importance of free speech and the power of the written word by enshrining these in the very first amendment to our Constitution. Sadly, however, we live in a time when a president fearful of free speech is doing all he can to suppress it. One way to do this, if you have wealth and power, is via lawsuits; witness the suits brought by Trump against CBS and the Wall Street Journals as the most recent attempts at suppression. We have also seen students expressing outrage at the suffering of the people in Gaza on college campuses threatened with deportation in other attempts at suppression (“Trump is Dismantling the First Amendment,” Lucian K. Truscott IV, July 31, 2025).

A classic tactic of authoritarian regimes is to attack the freedom to speak truth to power and express opinions in a civil fashion. We live in a time when this intimidation is in full flower. Without freedom of speech, our political system is blinded and falls victim to dishonest and power hungry rulers.

Kirk Peterson

Lake Clear