LETTERS

Letter to the editor: Republicans are to blame

The Repository

On March 12, the Canton Repository reprinted an editorial from the Elyria Chronicle: “Reforming train rules is critical.”

Most of the editorial sounds like common sense, but here we have the reason why reform probably won’t happen. They talk of “partisan vitriol with folks on both sides of the aisle trying to score political points.”

This statement is nothing but a big lie, and the editors know it’s a lie. There is no equivalence here. There is one giant media company, run by Rupert Murdoch, whose business model is to spew vitriol, lies and hatred. This is what Murdoch does, by design. To suggest that Democrats are equally culpable is an unconscionable slander, and needs to be called out as such.

Everyone knows Republicans oppose the regulation of business. This is no secret, but everyone is afraid to say the obvious. The only “blame” Democrats deserve is for failing to loudly and clearly point out how much Republicans are to blame.

If some “bipartisan” solution doesn’t pass, then why doesn’t it pass? It could only be because Republicans blocked it. If the rules aren’t strict enough to prevent future disasters, then why aren’t they? It could only be because Republicans gutted it until it was meaningless.

There is no “constitutional right” to derail a train. Trains run on tracks for a reason. We don’t ask much of the railroads; only that they keep their loads of toxic waste on their own tracks. Maybe we should be talking about severely reducing the speed limits. Maybe we should be talking about nationalizing the railroads. What we should not be taking seriously is some delusional fantasy about “vitriol” coming from Democrats.

Eric Haubert, Massillon