Month / October 2020

by Ed Achorn

The numbers don’t support panic

By Edward Achorn

During the last several days, politicians and the news media have been pushing hard on a COVID-19 narrative. Americans, they suggest, should be terrified of rising “cases” of the virus.

In Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo proclaimed that field hospitals might have to be opened, though standard hospitals never came close to being overrun, and her experts’ projections last spring were preposterously inflated.

The governor also declared that social gatherings of more than 10 people are now verboten. She, further, barred parents from attending their children’s school sports events.

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by Ed Achorn

Re-elect Speaker Mattiello

By Edward Achorn

For more than 20 years, I was an editorial-pages editor at The Providence Journal. I worked hard to maintain the newspaper’s great tradition of service to the public, which dated back to 1829, as a responsible voice advocating for the people of Rhode Island.

That voice has been eliminated as part of the newspaper industry’s reaction to dire financial problems. As former longtime publisher Howard Sutton noted, Rhode Island has suffered a painful blow in losing the Journal’s ability to speak out boldly and offer informed perspective on issues confronting the state. Separated from news coverage, we weighed in on sustaining good government, combating political corruption, promoting the welfare of the people, and defending the First Amendment and other constitutional rights.

The Journal for well over a century also made important endorsements. Over the last two elections, it urged the re-election of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, a Democrat from Cranston.

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by Ed Achorn

Abraham Lincoln facedown

By Edward Achorn

Abraham Lincoln’s statues dot the landscape for a reason that is well-understood: He is a symbol of wisdom, decency, sacrifice, and perseverance in defeating slavery and liberating millions of black Americans.

Antifa rioters knocked down his statue in Portland during a self-proclaimed “Day of Rage” on the eve of Columbus Day.

They also trashed the Oregon Historical Society, which preserves treasures of the past so that people of succeeding generations may understand their culture and history.

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by Ed Achorn

Don’t let COVID-19 dominate your life

By Edward Achorn

I was happy to hear President Trump speak out against fear Monday. Panic has been the worst thing about our response to deadly COVID-19.

As he was preparing to leave the Walter Reed Medical Center after being treated for a COVID-19 infection, the president tweeted this: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”

Back at the White House, he put out a video message: “I learned so much about coronavirus. And one thing that’s for certain: Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it.”

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