A recent Eagle editorial was symptomatic of so much that is wrong with the state of our politics and, unfortunately, with the Eagle.

Even though the Eagle’s offices are a few hundred feet from Diamond Park and Rep. Mike Kelly’s office, the Eagle managed to completely misrepresent what is happening on Mondays in Butler. There is no “demonstration” in Diamond Park. People gather in Diamond Park prior to heading over to Kelly’s office, which is adjacent to the park. There are hearty hellos, hugs, handshakes and laughs. It’s hardly the angry mob the Eagle suggests is “similar” to another group that it slanders in another congressional district.

The group has been gathering every Monday since the third week in February, through snow, rain, wind, floods, and some truly breathtaking western Pennsylvania mornings. We gather and then walk to Kelly’s office together. We ring the bell on the office door and, peacefully, enter four at a time, to let Kelly’s staff know what our concerns are. Then, after all have had their say, we walk back out, say goodbye, and head our separate ways with a vow to return in a week.

Except for our first visit, there have been no attempts to involve the press, no chants, no signs. We gather far back in the park, away from public view.

As someone who has organized more than a few demonstrations and knows how to get attention, Butler’s iteration of Mondays With Mike is either badly planned or not a demonstration. As one of the organizers, I can attest that it is not a demonstration.

What the Eagle seems to imply is that there is something ominous, something dangerous, something un-American about constituents petitioning their representatives, freely assembling, and exercising their right to free speech.

Another thing the Eagle insinuates is that anyone who exercises these rights is either responsible for violence and vandalism or condones it. The slandered group (Mondays With Murphy in Rep. Tim Murphy’s district), alluded to above, issued a condemnation of vandalism but that’s not enough, the Eagle sneers, suggesting that, because they had the temerity to voice dissent, they are responsible for acts carried out at the congressional office.

And then, to prove that the Eagle will stoop lower still, it links the violence in Hamburg and the shooting in Arlington to our peaceful gathering in Diamond Park.

Using the Eagle’s calculus, anyone who does anything is responsible for the actions of anyone. Even first graders know that guilt by association is inherently unfair, but the Eagle wants to extend the concept to guilt by six degrees of separation — “you’re guilty because a friend of a friend, of a friend, of a friend, of a friend of a friend did something horrible.”

President Donald Trump bemoans “fake news.” I guess the Eagle decided to live down to his expectation. The Eagle’s shoddy reporting and sloppy thinking are a discredit to journalism and undermine its mission.