The letter from Renae Paisley two weeks ago gave me chills – not the good kind – but the responses from our community gave me faith in humankind.

Letter after letter admonished Paisley’s twisted view that we must put an end to social isolation and open up our streets and shops so we do not hurt our economy. I’m guessing that Paisley is a nom de plume for a person who self-identifies as an “entrepreneur” and thinks that a vibrant economy is more important than the lives of old farts like myself.

One of the big problems we have nowadays is that people choose to listen to or watch news stations that tell them what they want to hear rather than reporting the objective truth. There is a radio station in Seattle that appeals to right wingers and says that the coronavirus is really a hoax and the numbers of deaths are being grossly exaggerated.

Fox News tells its viewers what they want to hear and CNN and MSNBC tell their viewers what they want to hear. All this does is cement the growing gap we have in this country. If you don’t trust the New York Times because its editorials are progressive, then read the Wall Street Journal, which has done a wonderful job of covering the pandemic.

There are two sides to this story. There are terrific consequences to the isolation we are being forced to endure. Alcohol and drug abuse are on the rise. Other serious medical conditions are not getting the attention they deserve.

But if you listen to the smartest editorial writers – including our Ken Stern – they are all coming to the conclusion that we must err on the side of caution as modern science tries to grapple with a new challenge. The facts are that by opening up too soon in many parts of America, the number of cases and deaths has begun to rise again.

The sad truth is that we are grappling with the unknown and its going to take a while to come up with an effective vaccine. My guess is that we will have another wave as the weather gets colder in the fall and we may have to revert back to Phase 1 in many parts of the country.

Renae Paisley may not give a hoot about me, but I care about her and everyone else and I want us to, along with Lady Liberty, care about not only our rich and healthy but also our tired and poor and huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Mel Damski