Saturday, July 4, 2020

The cartoon, Kelly's over reach, the Holocaust and fact-checking the NYT

Happy Independence Day everyone! Following is the response I sent the Associated Press and to the New York Times about the cartoon. I wanted to be sure the UNCUT version was out there after they edit me... let's see how right they get it!

Happy 4th!!

From: Dane Hicks 
Date: Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 6:34 PM
Subject: Fwd: Questions
To: michael levenson

Hi Mike- The person who has my old cell number forwarded me your message
(remember- it's a small town!!) here's a Q&A I did for our local AP guy. If
you have any other questions reply to this email. Thanks!

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dane Hicks 
Date: Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: Questions
To: Hanna, John D. 

John- I am the owner of the Review, we are an independent weekly.

1) I am a member and former president of various civic organizations
locally, none of which influence the newspaper or vice-versa. I am and have
been chairman of the county Republican party for a number of terms (I can't
remember how long off hand).

2) I photoshopped the cartoon. I'm no artist.

3) Political editorial cartoons are gross over-caricatures designed to
provoke debate and response- that's why newspapers publish them – fodder
for the marketplace of ideas. The topic here is the governmental overreach
which has been the hallmark of Governor Kelly's administration: absconding
with Kansans' additional federal tax refunds after Trump's change to the
tax law; a disastrous statewide shutdown that torpedoed businesses and
schools in scores of counties in Kansas that had no Covid-19 cases-
treating them just like virus hot spots in Johnson & Wyandotte counties; a
second blanket dictum that every Kansan would have to wear a mask in public
places, which would have certainly led to a resurgence in the "freak out
factor" with Kansans being reminded of the virus everywhere they turned,
resulting in a new wave of economic malaise. The most telling example of
authoritarian government I can think of is Nazi Germany – you'll recall
various media personalities and Trump Haters constantly making the analogy
between the president and Adolf Hitler – I certainly have more evidence of
that kind of totalitarianism in Kelly's actions, in an editorial cartoon
sort of way, than Trump's critics do, yet they persist in it daily.

Other Republicans? I have no idea- you would have to ask them.

4) Criticism and troll attacks: I've been in this business 35 years come
this December. Churchill said of criticism: “You have enemies? Good. That
means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” I've found
that a poignant mantra in this business.

5) Apologies: To whom exactly? The critics on the Facebook page? Facebook
is a cesspool and I only participate to develop readership. I post much of
my writing there and my trolls are like family. I like to refer to them as
my narcissistic flea circus - I make them jump and I give them free rein
to attack me for my views and only rebuke them for vulgar language. I would
never apologize to them. They're liberal Marxist parasites who are
literally applauding and in some cases taking part in the burning and
commandeering of both public and private property in our country. As a
traditional American, they are my enemy.

If there are holocaust survivors or their relatives or Jews who take
offense to the image, I would certainly apologize and I intended no slight
to them. But then again they better than anyone should appreciate the
harbingers of governmental overreach and the present but tender seedlings
of tyranny.

6) Publication: I got the idea for the cartoon after last week's paper came
out so I put it on Facebook. It will run in the July 7 edition.

Sorry this took so long- if you have other questions reply and cc both this
address and 

On Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 12:37 PM Hanna, John D.  wrote:
Mr. Hicks,
               I am a reporter for The Associated Press, and I would like to talk to you about a cartoon posted on the Anderson County Review’s Facebook page that is getting some notice. It’s the one about Gov. Kelly’s mask order with the caption that ends, “and step onto the cattle car.”
               My questions, to start:
  • You are listed on the state GOP’s website as the Anderson County GOP chairman. Do you still hold that position?
  • Did you post the cartoon yourself, or did a staffer do it?
  • If a staffer did it, did you sign off beforehand?
  • What was your thinking in posting the cartoon?
  • How do you respond to criticism of the posting as “offensive” and “repulsive” from critics who think the comparison between the mask order and the Holocaust is inappropriately extreme?
  • Does this cartoon represent the views of your fellow Republicans?
  • Will you apologize?

John Hanna
Correspondent

Associated Press
300 S.W. 10th Ave.
Room 37H-E
Topeka, Kan., 66612

785-234-5654 (office)


The information contained in this communication is intended for the use of the designated recipients named above. If the reader of this communication is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify The Associated Press immediately by telephone at +1-212-621-1500 and delete this email. Thank you.

56 comments:

  1. What a self righteous piece of trash. You sir are no Winston Churchill. As far as trolls, in my opinion, you are the king of trolls. Enjoy your notoriety.

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  3. You are comparing the Holocaust to having to wear a mask in public? Get educated, sir. It infriges on your rights, you say? I guess the Jewish people had their rights infringe upon by being stuffed into cattle cars with no food and water and no place to relive themselves. Then some were being shot in the head infront of their children when they disinbarked because they may have not walked fast enough. Some young twins were blinded by dyes in their eyes for experiments. They got waterd down bug soup once a day with a moldy pice of bread. They were forced to work 12 - 14 hours in freezing cold weather with no warm clothes and fueled by nothing humans considere food. Some one raped. THey froze to dealth, starved to dealth and toutured for fun. Shot at for amusement. If you were pregnant if you were lucky enough to go full term your new born was killed with in hours. Yet you compare that to wearing a mask, while you can go home and have a drink, stuff your face from your full fridge and have a BBQ. All i ask is that your act like a Chritian like I am sure you say you are. Also read a little about what it was actually like for these people who were family members of mine because you post such heartless cartoons. I am not a troll. I am person with a soul and I have compassion for others.

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  4. Well played, Dane. As if posting the cartoon weren't bad enough, you actually attempt to justify it. You have brought massive shame to our sweet little town. You are no longer welcome here. Pack your carpet bag and hit the road to spread our hate elsewhere. My dad was Anderson Co GOP chairman long long before you ever hit town and he would never have had anything to do with this kind of crap. He fought Nazis, not sympathize with them.

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    1. I didn't intend to be anonymous for this comment--Gwinn Gibson Shell Jr

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  5. Not only are you a antisemitic piece of crap - but you should be put in jail for accessory to murder. Wearing a mask saves lives, advocating against it should be tantamount to aggravated assault.

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  6. Using a Jewish symbol and referencing the holocaust has made this a racist and anti-semitic post. You are insensitive human who can't see further than his own self interest. You're going to find that putting your racist beliefs out there is not going to go so well for you. Now the whole world knows about your bigotedness (The Guardian in UK published something, the NYT, etc.). I hope the Republican party kicks you out off of being county chair, it's the least they can do for bringing them such ugly publicity.

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  7. I hope you are run out of business. A lot of the people who are disgusted are your customers. You are not a journalist. You write a rag mag. You have nothing to be proud of.

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  8. Truly a disgusting pieth of hate speech masquerading as free speech

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  12. I read some articles from the archives. I will grudgingly admit that you do know how to turn a phrase. Unfortunately, your description of the illustration under discussion also fits the content of your editorials: “gross over-caricatures designed to provoke debate and response”. Your articles, like that nasty little cartoon, are biased and distorted. What a waste!

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  13. This cartoon is not only offensive, it's indicative of possibly the worst snowflake I've had the misfortune to run across.

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  14. Sadly, Garold Dane Hicks is anti-Semitic and apparently a racist too. America is better than him and the President he supports blindly.

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  15. "I was making a (exceptionally weak slippery-slope) analogy!" doesn't remotely fly to explain or defend this. It's classic "persecutional slumming" as I like to call it, where conservatives want all of the righteousness of feeling persecuted with none of the hassle. But sure, go on feeling like enforcing a health-emergency induced mandate is two steps away from being shoved into a cauldron alive with your family if it makes you sleep any better at night.

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  16. From the letter he wrote and his responses to reader comments, I conclude the following re: Mr. Hicks: (1) IF he is a Republican, he is a RINO, (2) he is actually a troll looking to instigate more hatred towards the GOP to push public opinion into the Biden camp by using this anti-Semitic meme as a weapon. How did I come up with this conclusion? Because Conservative values do NOT espouse anti-Semitism nor slander. Conservative values do NOT demand that "free speech" should prevail over being moral and sensitive to past or present human suffering. These values that Mr Hicks holds are prime hallmarks of the Left. While Mr. Hicks thinks he's been clever, he's actually waving the flag of Leftism. The flag that needs to be burned and ashes discarded!

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  17. YOU ARE WHY IT'S SO EMBARASSING TO BE FROM KANSAS

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  18. I am not a troll. This post summarizes an email that I am sending to  dhicks@garnett-ks.com. I look forward to speaking with you, Mr. Hicks.
    I am not convinced that you "intended no slight" to Jews or Holocaust survivors, but I appreciate your offer to apologize to us.
    Indeed, "political editorial cartoons are gross over-caricatures designed to provoke debate and response." However, with all due respect, your cartoon presents a somewhat absurd comparison, and thus it renders the cartoon as nothing more than a mischaracterization that evokes more shock and offense than it does genuine "fodder for the marketplace of ideas."
    To be sure, of course Gov. Kelly is overreaching; isn't that what Democrats always do? But she is also ostensibly trying to circumvent a public health crisis, and anyway, she certainly knew that counties could and would overturn her order. So, at least for this round, if this had indeed been some kind of Orwellian scheme by KS Dems, then it appears to have been a failed plot. Nonetheless, as a Jewish person, I take offense when anyone -- not the least a newspaper publisher with some circulation -- makes a provocative statement that exploits the Jewish Holocaust experience.
    Furthermore, your caricature of Gov. Kelly as a Nazi rounding people into a cattle car cannot be justified by all of the "media personalities and Trump Haters making the analogy between the president and Adolf Hitler." By stooping to this level, you undermine the credibility of your own argument (see the reply on this blog written by "Unknown" yesterday at 7:47 pm). If "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is a real thing, then let us not respond by creating something like "Kelly Derangement Syndrome." People who disagree will get nowhere by racing each other down a bottomless pit.
    My hope right now is that you remain a Republican party leader and newspaper owner for a long time to come. I reject the notion of "cancel culture" and I believe that, in order to combat ignorant thought, it is best to use logic and persistence to change people's minds. To that end, I am personally committed to helping you to draft an effective apology that will restore peace and allow us all to quickly move on from this event. If you still do not understand exactly why you owe a powerful and thoughtful apology to all of your readers, not just the Jewish ones, then I will be happy to further explain this so that you can fully comprehend.

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  19. It is hard to know what is worse, the moral aspect or the analytical. To equate the efforts of health officials and our elected leaders to save lives with the Holocaust is idiotic. You might as well equate the Nazi gas chambers with laws that require the wearing of seat belts: is every time you get into your car and buckle up somehow related to pushing Jews into cattle cars and delivering them to Treblinka? I mean, can the person who tried to justify this idiotic equation really be that dense?? I have to guess, I have to hope, not. And if not, then what was the purpose of this moronic equation other than to score political points? Whether it is pure stupidity or pure venality, or a mix of both, this letter outrageous.

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  20. Equating wearing a mask to genocide, there is no comparison. If you could ask any of the victims I'm sure they would agree. This is just more typical republican viterol.

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  22. One more thing. Democracies require many things, and one of them is a balance between individual rights and the shared rights of communities to be safe. Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose. That is why we have seat belts, that is why it is against the law to drive with a license or insurance: we would have no society, no community if we didn't have laws to protect what the author of this letter doesn't seem to remotely grasp: the public good. During the height of the Covid 19 crisis in Israel, the state brought in helicopters to disperse kids playing soccer.No, this was not the first step towards a Nazi state: this was an effort to prevent the spread of disease. You do NOT have a constitutional right to go to a bar during the height of pandemic and spread the disease: the state has a right and an obligation to prevent you from doing this because your right to get drunk is far less important that the community's right to be safe and protected from a dangerous disease. Abd why I am at it: you have a right o get drunk, but not to drive drunk: the latter is NOT protected by the US Constitution. In the present circumstances, walking around and breathing on others is THE WAY THIS DISEASE is transmitted. And so when governments try to prevent these temporary measures, they are saving lives AND doing what all democracies do. Why am I giving a basic civics lesson here? Why do the owners of your newspaper display such bottomless misunderstanding of democracies, of our Constitution: and what is worse, of the need for real patriotism, which is nothing less than a readiness to make some sacrifices (wearing a mask, what a sacrifice!!) so your fellow US citizens can eventually walk with out the mask and without fear. It may take some months or more. During WWII rationing was introduced because we faced a common enemy. It is precisely the same logic now: the enemy is here and is killing our society. Our leaders, even the Governor of Texas, now understands this!!!! He regrets opening the bars. Where is our sense of common destiny, of shared interests. My God!!! Where is even one iota of patriotism rather than ME-ISM??? What are we teaching our children? Republicans and Democrats: this is the one thing we should share!

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  24. "Political editorial cartoons are gross over-caricatures designed to provoke debate and response- that's why newspapers publish them – fodder for the marketplace of ideas." HAHAHAHA! This does not promote "ideas". It is unabashed red-meat fodder for wrong-headed division and dangerous decision-making. You employ the trickery of false syllogism in support of deceitful propaganda. You disagree with mandated wearing of masks, falsely inferring that the mandate will lead to genocide . . . a proposition which is as dangerous as it is absurd. Ironically, this is the same diversionary tactic successfully employed by Paul Joseph Goebbels, the politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Adolf Hitler's closest ally. This is not political commentary. It is dangerous hate-speech. Good job!

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  25. Dane Hicks, you are really a disgusting anti-Semite. You trivialized the Holocaust when you compared wearing a face mask to the slaughter of six-million men, women, and children. I'm pretty sure you'll lose most or all of your sponsors, and I hope it puts you out of business.

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  26. My grandfather watched as his pregnant mother weakened and died while they waited for the closest thing to a doctor he could send for was held up treating others. He was told to let the adults come get his mother and her bedding and that he needed to get as many of his siblings to wear a mask as possible. He being 12 years old and the oldest of 12 siblings you can imagine that he was sure that wouldn't go well. So he totally quarantined them until his father returned. My great grandfather was contracted by the US Army in southwest Kansas to haul things to different Army Bases. The entire country was mandated to were masks in public during the Spanish Flu (Kansas Flu). My only son and my 77 year old mother were exposed to someone who tested positive and notified a couple days ago. I don't know how this is going to turn out. But if they had just worn facemasks I would feel much safer about my family. Your defamation of Governor Laura Kelly who is trying to safe Kansans lives reprehensible. I agree with the person who said that you should move from your town. But I don't think anywhere else in Kansas wants you either. I suggest Florida. There you can join the other "Florida Man" losers. And maybe you can convince Kris Kobach to go with you.

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  27. I have just read the original inquiry from John Hanna of the AP, and Mr. Hicks's response. While I will grant that Mr. Hicks has a defined free speech right (limited, not absolute, and in some instances legally contestable) as well as an ownership prerogative to publish what he chooses, I find both the cartoon and his facile, inflammatory, morally poisonous "explanations" profoundly offensive. I do reckon that public speech of all kinds has been utterly debased over the past four years--but work like this certainly demonstrates that we have not yet reached the bottom.

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  28. Well, Dane, you've changed your settings on your personal page, apparently because you are trying to compartmentalize your hate from your personal facebook but it won't work. I predict this bridge too far will have far more presonal repercussions than you had ever imagined.

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  29. You take no responsibility for the consequences of your actions. Actions that are cruel and heartless. Then you pretend it is ok because you are “right.”

    Just like the orangutan in the Oval Office.

    You apologized, so it seems like you understand what you did is wrong, but at the same time you didn’t really apologize, because you claimed it was OK to do what you do because you are in the “right.”

    If my daughter ran out into the street I would be right to call her back, but I would choose to do so by saying something like “ Get the F back here before you kill yourself what are you effing stupid!”

    I would be right to stop her, but the way I chose to stop her was absolutely wrong. Do you know that your choice was wrong to, but you’re too cowardly to admit it and apologize. I don’t see a whole lot of people on this thread defending you either.

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  30. As offensive as the cartoon is, the real problem here is the utter nonsense of the idea that wearing a mask intrudes on our freedom in some unacceptable way.

    We accept all sorts of laws that limit our freedoms because these laws provide an element of protection and security for both the individual whose freedom is being restricted and the individuals who are affected by the other person's actions. For example, the imposition of speed limits do curtail our freedom to drive as fast as we want, but their primary purpose is to protect others on the road from that driver who is driving unsafely. In the same vein, a person may enjoy the challenge of driving at night with his lights off, but his freedom to do so is restrained because of the harm he might do to others.

    In the case of the examples above and many others too numerous to mention, we readily accept restrictions on our freedoms because of their obvious social benefits.

    It is only reasonable that we recognize the need for similar regulation of our actions to protect ourselves and others from this disease. To do otherwise is to advocate that one's own desires are more important that the safety of our fellow citizens. This is the attitude of a selfish and short-sighted child, not of a responsible adult.

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  31. I hope that your pathetic newspaper is shut down and that you have to move away in disgrace, you anti-Semitic piece of filth!

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  32. Hi,
    I attended the University of Kansas. I drove with my parents from Tulsa to Lawrence scores of times. Your lack of knowledge about history, genocide, public health, and bad judgment will make your community suffer disdain. I am sure you are so resistant to educating yourself that you are completely unaware of the response to the 1918 pandemic in Kansas, "Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine was the secretary of the state board of health and began a campaign to keep the public in Kansas well aware and educated about the flu and what people could do to prevent it. However, despite these measures there were still hundreds of deaths reported in Kansas, and eventually health officers were forced to close individual cities. By closing schools, public gatherings, theaters, church services, and limiting the number of people in a store at a time, the government officials in Kansas hoped to limit the outbreak and prevent more people from becoming sick." I am quite sure you will be proud of that. Shame on you, your ignorance, and your Un-American, unpatriotic behavior. You sir, are an embarrassment.

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  33. This is horrifying and wildly inappropriate. Since when is protecting our fellow man wrong? If you would die for our country, you can wear a mask to protect its citizens.

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  34. Good one Dane!! I'd shake your hand and buy you dinner, if I was there. I can't stand the way these DemoRats act like hitler, reigning terror over the states they're supposed to be "for the people". This whole covid thing is just a setup for them to instill fear and lead their scared sheep to a totalitarian slaughter. God help us all. If they take over in 2020, I believe America will end up like Sodom and Gomorah, Gods gonna say enough is enough and it will burn to the ground!!

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    1. filth is loose in Anderson County. Will the good citizens who live there erase it? Or embrace it?

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    2. Yeah, I wouldn't sign my name to such an embarrassing response either, fellow "Unknown".

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  35. Some people say their truth, and everyone realizes just how racist, ignorant, and callous that person is. Nothing they say after that will ever erase the memory of that moment. You have proven my point perfectly. Too bad you don't that the courage to use your name.

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    1. In the process of posting my comment, this program listed my name as unknown, which is wrong. I was replying to Unknown. My name is S.O'Sullivan

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  36. So you are removing comments you don’t agree with? How nasty of you. You should resign your job. Racists have no place in our country—where ALL men are created equal.

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  38. It takes a real dickhead to publish something like you published and then call everyone else trolls. Really "standing up for something". Way to go Dane. Keep patting yourself on the back you stain.

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  39. Mr. Hicks,
    I thank for your apology. Perhaps, my email helped you to choose to apologize.
    I will remind you that this very blogpost -- which includes not only your original cartoon and the full text of your written response which you have ostensibly disavowed, but also the personal contact info of the journalists who elicited this response -- does call into question the sincerity of your apology. Of course, it is still early on a Monday morning, so I will give you due time to delete this awful blogpost. True remorse can be slow to rise, and so I will try to be patient.
    Furthermore, concerns have been raised by your audience as to whether any apology or retraction can ever countervail your original cartoon or the full text of the response that you posted on this blog. As the KC Star reports in its headline, "Newspaper owner: Sorry for equating mask rule to Holocaust". Indeed, it can be easily argued that any longtime newspaper publisher or political leader who does something like equating the new mask rule to the Holocaust is so reprehensible and absurd in his thinking that he probably should never have been a newspaper publisher or a political leader to begin with.
    Additionally, your critics could be forgiven for believing that your apology could not possibly have been sincere, since you faced so much irrefutable pressure to apologize, that your apology can be nothing more than a mere act of self-preservation.
    To be sure, while your apology is (in my opinion) well-written and perhaps sincere, such incoherent transgressions as your cartoon and your response on this blogpost tend to leave an indelible stain. Of course, many leaders throughout history have thoroughly repented in ways that have eventually and fully restored their damaged reputations. Of course, I do not wish to judge you, but rather I wish to judge your sin. And believe me, I am extremely far from perfect myself. But make no mistake, Mr. Hicks: your apology was the easy part. For you, the difficult work lies ahead. As a writer and a party leader, you need to be very careful of your words and actions moving forward.
    I will send a copy of this comment to your two email addressed, along with my contact info, so that we can keep in touch. I look forward to hearing from you directly.
    As I stated in my previous email to you yesterday morning, please do not share my personal information. I included it in the email so that you have a way to contact me, and also so you can see that I am a real person.
    I have stayed off of Facebook for a few years because I do not wish to be part of most social media platforms; however, I re-activated my Facebook page this past weekend so that I can read your posts. I also plan to subscribe to your newspaper. I am excited for the opportunity to keep a close eye on what you publish, and I do not mean this in a threatening way whatsoever. I wish to help you to see the profound breadth of your folly, not to bring you down. Right now, America needs people like you, who understand the importance of an apology.
    To be clear, I agree both with Gov. Kelly's mask mandate AND with your county's decision to reject this "mandate", and I do not believe this to be a contradiction. I would be happy to explain my rationale in greater detail; if you wish to discuss this, you know how to reach me.  

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  40. "...But then again they better than anyone should appreciate the harbingers of governmental overreach and the present but tender seedlings of tyranny."
    Do you really think you are in any position to tell the Jewish community what they should appreciate or understand? Do you really think you deserve to be their educator or ideological guide?
    There are 287 families in your state who have lost loved ones. 287 families who are probably wishing the state would have been more aggressive on mask mandates. You are mocking 287 Kansas deaths. Do you think a simple apology is enough?

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  41. Having lived in Garnett ,cant explain how hilarious it is to see Dan Hicks and Anderson Co followers exposed to the rest of the REAL WORLD! Resign if you have the guts to do the right thing. #Step down Dan

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  42. You are an embarrassment and a poor excuse for anything resembling a journalist. The high school students I worked with when I was 14 could run circles around you ethically. And to top it off you stole the cartoon and photoshopped it, the cherry on top.

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  43. What is an outstanding post! “I’ll be back” (to read more of your content). Thanks for the nudge! Cosplayer

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  44. Pictures to cartoons Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though.

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