From the Editor: Andy Jones

Residents of Rio Rancho, can we please exhibit some respect toward one another?

Lately, The Observer has been bombarded with letters, calls and office visits from people who have had their political signs vandalized. And for whatever reason, most of the crimes (and I do believe it is a crime to trash someone else’s property) have involved signs of support for presidential candidates. It’s widespread; I’ve gotten letters from McCain and Obama supporters alike saying that their yard signs were destroyed. It’s easy to dismiss these acts as silly bits of vandalism. But it actually goes deeper than that. What we’re dealing with here is intimidation and suppression of free speech. There’s nothing funny about that.

Yes, this year’s presidential race is a heated contest with lots of mud-slinging and personal attacks, but that doesn’t mean everyday people have to disrespect one another in the same shameless manner as the candidates themselves.

The fact is that we’re a community and at the end of the day, we’re going to have to live with one another and create a place we can all be proud of. If you don’t respect your neighbor’s property, then you aren’t respecting your own town. And if you can’t have pride in where you live, then why bother?

Some of the vandalism is undoubtedly being pulled off by teenagers but that’s no excuse. Isn’t it our example they’re following? They see the politicians behaving in a despicable manner and they see other adults following their lead. It turns into a culture of disrespect and mayhem. It turns into a place where other people’s ideas have no value and must be destroyed. And what’s more, it turns into a place where nothing positive ever happens because of distrust and an inability to listen to different viewpoints.

The average McCain or Obama supporter can probably learn a lot from their counterparts. And what’s more, they can also sit next them at football games, wave at them from their yards and even have them over for dinner. Rio Rancho should be a place where everyone feels free to express their views in the way they see fit (as long as that expression isn’t vandalism). And it should be a place where we can discuss our differences in a calm and intelligent manner, talking about the issues and respecting (though perhaps not understanding) another person’s opinion.

Do we want to be a place where ideas mean something, or do we want to be a town where ruffians and bullies have the upper hand?

I’m Andy Jones and I approve this message. I hope you do too.