The 'both sides' issue

Jim Slusher's Dec. 1 commentary "Reporting on protests can involve complex questions" properly asks "How ... do we acknowledge both aspects of the story without suggesting some false equivalency between the two sides?" That is indeed often a complex question. But, it seems to me that not all of today's controversial stories should be seen as offering two sides. For example, what is the opposite side of democracy?

Of course, almost no one explicitly says "Let's just get rid of this democracy stuff so that we can impose our preferred command and control style of governance." But, as Nixon used to say "Don't watch what I say, watch what I do." When we see intimidation and violence routinely used by one side as political weapons to further a my-way-or-the-highway, unaccountable dictatorial powers agenda, then we should recognize that this is not a welcomed version of traditional American-style democracy.

Deciding how to share reporting coverage between democracy and fascism should not be regarded among issues considered as complex questions.

Jim Kinney

Vernon Hills