I was troubled by the reports of citizens who attended Butler County Commissioner Bill McCarrier’s public meetings and how their First Amendment rights were trod upon by the commissioner. In his Aug. 25 letter to the editor, David Kerr asked a question of McCarrier that got me thinking about what freedom of speech means and why it is so vital to our democracy.

Kerr asked McCarrier, “What are you so afraid of? What idea could anyone express in three minutes that would rattle ... your world so profoundly that you choose to censor rather than listen?”

Indeed, it could be fear. But it could also simply be that McCarrier is tired of the hard work of being a public servant and does not want to deal with the messy inconvenience that is democracy.

I suppose to elected officials the First Amendment is often inconvenient. But, inconvenience does not ever absolve these public servants of their obligation to tolerate free speech.

I am so weary of elected officials who campaign promising to be true representatives of their constituents and, once in office, find the work too difficult and the first promise they shirk is their responsibility to listen to the people of their town or their county or their state. It would be better for them to admit to being overwhelmed and to step down so someone who has the patriotism and the gumption to champion the First Amendment 24/7, no matter how inconvenient and messy it is, can step up and take over so they can do something easier.

With regards to freedom of speech, there are two positions, Noam Chomsky wrote: You defend it vigorously for views you hate, or, you reject it and prefer Stalinist/Fascist standards. He also wrote it is unfortunate that it remains necessary to stress these simple truths in this day and age. I agree.