DEAR EDITOR:

I’ve lived and worked under many different political leaderships and administrations. We always have differences, but underlying respect existed, and more important, trust that each desired betterment of our nation and citizenship. It was trust that allowed for acceptance, a full-hearted attempt to work within paths set forth through whatever mandates were established.

Questioning and challenging is part of the game of politics — politics, the mechanism used to govern. Governing is nothing more than ensuring the product — our constitutional rights, or freedom we in America enjoy and others envy — is provided.

Today, trust no longer exists. We had four years of daily accusations of fake news, tearing down our well-established, sought-after, relied-upon government agencies, like the FBI and CDC. When your leaders tell you it’s all a lie, nothing is true, one has a tendency to, based on previous positions of respect and trust, believe and follow perpetual outcries of “not true.”

That’s where we are today; that’s our biggest challenge. We were told to ignore news outlets, investigators, experts such as the doctors, who have studied infectious diseases their entire life: agencies like the CDC or the FBI, judges with years of legal academia who have ruled on cases after reviewing all the evidence, or in many cases, the lack of evidence; they are all telling you a lie. Now we’re told to listen to, respect and accept those who are telling you the truth about the past election, current pandemic. Not experts within the field, not the sworn-to-duty employees of respected, established agencies, but people like “Cyber Ninjas,” an anesthesiologist (no disrespect), those with a microphone in front of them broadcasting over the airwaves and an individual who made millions selling a pillow. These are the ones you want to believe.

How have we gotten here? I think we all know the answer, and I believe we now need to take a deep breath and put “trust” back into government. We and government representatives will make decisions that just don’t sit right with many and will make comments that may rub you the wrong way, but it works. Yes the government has worked for over 200 years. Changes will be made, but it is “trust” that keeps us the “greatest nation.” Without it, this great nation won’t survive.

I will end with a famous quote: “Let us not seek a Republican answer or the Democrat answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

God Bless America.

JOHN P. LESEGANICH

Canfield