One-sided arguments don’t stick with you.
That’s the number one principle that’s guided our efforts here at The Record since our September beginning.
The Record’s editorial page leanings, regular readers already know, are aggressively pro-tort reform and could be fairly described as pro-doctor and pro-business.
We don’t believe doctors or companies are infallible. But we’re worried about plaintiff’s lawyers who creatively invent new ways to blame them for anything and everything that goes wrong with someone’s life.
And we blame those same lawyers for stifling the risk-taking Madison County needs most. We seriously worry for our region’s future if things don’t change.
So that’s our position—it’s the one we argue right here almost every week.
But keeping with that “number one principle,” we have also tried aggressively to recruit dissenters to counter our opinion pieces. We like newspapers better when they aren’t one-way streets like a Fidel Castro speech or the Rush Limbaugh show.
Two weeks ago, prominent Edwardsville medical malpractice attorney John Hopkins committed to become a regular columnist for The Record.
While we disagree with John on most issues court-related (we all cheer for the Cardinals), we’re thrilled that he is taking the time to write for us. Our newspaper is much better for his contribution.
Record readers know John Hopkins’ biases and they also know ours. He clearly does not feel threatened by our arguments. And we don’t feel threatened by his.
So we’ll have it out on these pages. And Madison County will be better off for our debate.
Last week, Madison County Circuit Court Judge George Moran, Jr. told our reporter Steve Gonzalez that he while he didn’t agree with our editorials, he strongly supported our right to write them.
We need more of that spirit around these parts. And we need more individual flexing of the First Amendment.
So don’t be shy and write us if you have something to say. There’s plenty more paper and ink where this came from.