L&T Publisher Earl Watt

When the people of Boston protested taxes by tossing a shipload of tea into the Boston Harbor Dec. 16, 1773, the revolt against British rule had already begun.

The notion that those who made the rules exercising lordship over those they ruled were coming to an end, and the people of the 13 colonies were about to create a system where everyone would be equal under the law.

Recently, a referral was made to Seward County Attorney Russell Hassenbank that will test whether or not what was fought for two-and-a-half centuries ago still applies.

The question is simple — do the rules apply equally to those who make the rules as they do to the rest of us who follow them?

Clearly there are restrictions on how landfill funds are to be used.

Most importantly, they are to be used to protect the surrounding environment from the challenges of maintaining the items that are disposed at the landfill. Any other use of those funds that do not directly accomplish that requirement is not allowed.

We have seen at the national level that Hillary Clinton, who at the time was a candidate for president, had kept an illegal server in her basement and had restricted government information on that server. And yet she was not charged.

The public loses trust in a system when the rules are not applied equally to everyone. Our elected officials should set a higher standard, not a lower one.

Another concern is the attempt to expect the Leader & Times to ignore the truth in an effort to maintain the peace.

We were recently challenged to use our “podium to bring this community together not pit one against the other and help us as one resolve matters.”

Challenge accepted.

We have been providing facts and truth in an effort to do just that — bring the community together by making sure it has all the available information in order to make informed decisions.

If a fact divides the community, it is either because some do not want the facts or are protecting others from it.

Friendship and kinship can cloud judgement for sure. We don’t have that luxury. We have to put the public’s right to know above family and friends, and we have done so.

We have an obligation to fact check what our government and its leadership says and compare that information to statute and truth.

It is unfortunate that we have had to report on several inaccuracies over the past several months ranging from when DCP was paid off to whether or not the law must be followed on amending the budget.

In all cases there is data that can substantiate or contradict those statements, and in most of the issues we have reviewed, it has been contradictory to what has been shared.

I’m sure the Americans 250 years ago had to make a choice of defending their local governmental overlords or to stand for liberty and justice.

We have seen many citizens engage in uncovering the truth and making that data public.

Recently, we had the chairman of the Big First Republican Party visit Liberal, who is an attorney, share how Seward County Treasurer Mary Rose followed the law despite efforts to discredit her from forces within the county.

We shared both sides. Is that pitting one against the other, or providing the facts of what was said by each “side” before we reported it? We don’t take sides.

It is not the coverage creating the sides any more than the colonists were upset with Britain years before Thomas Paine wrote “Common Sense,” which was two years after the Boston Tea Party.

Informing the community of the dysfunction facing our county is not what is creating it.

The division within the building has existed for quite some time.

As arbiters of truth, we will continue to share the facts and correct misstatements when we discover them. If one source has to be constantly corrected, that’s something the public at large through its elected officials will have to address.

And as always, we challenge everyone to seek the facts, not the spin, to seek fairness by listening to more than one source, and verifying data, not accepting it without proof.

We didn’t fight to end tyranny to replace it with ignorance. We will continue to inform.