Letter to the Editor

Dear Mr. Ward:

I write today in response to your column appearing in the January 14, 2026 edition of the Lake Chelan Mirror. As with the majority of your columns, your January 14 column took a centrist position and pointed out a problem in our country in which individuals stake out their beliefs first, then filter facts through those beliefs, instead of observing facts and then running an analysis to arrive at their beliefs. I wholeheartedly agree with your premise that this is a malignant problem in our society. Unfortunately, the Lake Chelan Mirror is a substantial part of the problem.

As I am sure you are aware, the vital role of newspapers in our society has traditionally been to: (1) Inform the public; (2) Foster accountability; (3) Promote civic engagement; and (4) Support democratic values. By consistently taking a centrist approach and going out of your way to appear non-partisan

If I may quote from your recent column, you said, "debates only work when people are willing to start from the same set of facts." You, as the publisher of a newspaper, are uniquely positioned in our community to disseminate facts, yet you seem to be afraid to do so.

On a daily basis Donald Trump commits acts that are either objectively illegal or demonstrate such a profound unfitness for the job of President of the United States of America as to shock the consciousness of anyone who has a modicum of understanding of how a functioning democracy works.

•   Attacking another country without congressional approval in order to take its oil;
•   Threatening to attack a NATO ally for no reason whatsoever;
•   Selling Presidential Pardons (see the recent expose in the Wall Street Journal);
•   Enriching himself through a variety of cryptocurrency scams;
•   Unleashing poorly trained, undisciplined ICE and Border Patrol agents on American cities resulting in the murder a young mother;
•   Defying court orders;
•   Directing the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to pursue bogus criminal charges against his political enemies.

The is merely a partial list of Donald Trump's offenses from just the past two weeks, and we should not forget his ongoing cover-up of his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.

I understand the economic situation for print newspapers is perilous, and you may fear a loss of subscribers or advertisers if you accurately report the deeds of the Trump Administration. But that does not excuse your unwillingness to fulfill your role in our society. I am a small business owner. I understand the risk to my business by publicly opposing Donald Trump and the MAGA democracy destroyed, our civil rights shredded, and our community members terrorized.

To quote again from your recent column, "A community doesn't need everyone to think the same way. It does need enough people willing to begin from the same reality." Are you, Mr. Ward, willing to accurately and completely report the reality of the Trump Administration?

Jeff Fehr

Chelen