Dear Editor: Preserve Free Speech

Dear Editor,

After reading the political debate going on in the Ledger Viewpoint page, it is good to see that freedom of speech is alive and well in Whitehall, Montana. Unfortunately, this is not universally the case in our country as we read of people being shamed, ostracized, censored, and even fired from their jobs simply for expressing their beliefs.

Debate in the public square is a hallmark of a free society; those living under totalitarian/communist regimes know only too well the value of free speech and the consequences of its loss. Immigrants who came here from countries that were forced under communism after World War II see the similarities between what happened in their country and the current erosion of our First Amendment right to free speech and they fear the United States is headed in that direction.

Freedoms are precious and once lost, extremely hard to regain. Without freedom of speech, I believe the United States of American will cease to exist as a free country. Let us do all we can to preserve both.

Leslie Alley

Whitehall, MT