Recently a fellow brought a letter to the editor to this newspaper. It was filled with libel content and was refused.

His remark was that he had a constitutional right for his opinion to be expressed on this page.

Well no, he doesn’t.

So let’s talk about that. There is a difference between a right and a privilege. You do not have a right to a driver’s license. It is a privilege granted to you if you meet the criteria for a license.

The First Amendment gives you the right to free speech. A newspaper gives you the priviledge to be on the opinion page and express yourself on a wide array of topices if you meet the criteria. And most newspapers have broad parameters allowing persons to utilize that public forum. Libelous material does not meet that criteria.

The Moultrie Observer encourages the use of this forum within broad parameters to express opinions and promote ideas.

Routinely we are asked why someone was allowed such a forum because their opinions obviously were in stark contrast to each other. The newspaper’s response is that we will also print your rebuttal. Seldom does the complainer counter with a rebuttal. That’s a bit curious.

And we often are asked why we print so many letters from specific people. The answer there is because they are the ones who take advantage of this privilege.

This page is called the “opinion” page for a reason.

If you will notice that columnists on this page include conservatives and liberals. And some subjects that are written about do not fall within liberal or conservative connotations. There are male and female contributors as well as ethnic variances. The strategy of this page is to offer a wide range of ideas.

When this newspaper takes an editorial stand, you are welcome to agree or disagree with us in this forum. 

We have many people in this community who are civic leaders and just plain good citizens who can and should express themselves fluently on many issues.

 This page is a great opportunity for them to participate in such discourse. The enlightenment they can bring is welcome. By the way, there is no charge.