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Letter: Tompkins, Kriofske has a right to criticize

Kriofske has a right to criticize

For those of you who believe Kris P. Kriofske should not have written his letter (A Bad Decision by Grand Lake, Sky Hi Daily News, September 27), I will respectfully suggest that you reconsider. I’m a strong supporter of free speech, and I detest censorship. That’s why I support Sheriff David Clarke’s right to speak at Grand Lake’s US Constitution Week, and also why I just as strongly support Kris P. Kriofske’s right to criticize the content of Clarke’s presentation. Here’s a few things I especially enjoyed about Kris P. Kriofskee’s letter: (1) He actually attended the event to hear the speaker for himself and form his own opinion; (2) when he heard enough he simply left, without infringing on anyone else’s right to listen, and without censoring Clarke; (3) he spoke honestly about his opinion without concern about whether it would be popular or not; and most importantly (4) he ended his letter with a constructive call to improve next year’s event, not cancel it, and he even volunteered to be on next year’s committee. Although I have not met with Kriofske, I have met with an acquaintance of his, Neal Cross, who shared his own constructive criticism about Grand Lake’s US Constitution Week with me and with others at Monday’s Grand Lake town board meeting. Neal Cross has volunteered to help form a new subcommittee designed to improve the discussion of the US Constitution. This is the very goal of Grand Lake’s US Constitution Week, to get as many people talking about the Constitution as possible. It is expected, indeed inevitable, that we will disagree on many issues. But we can disagree without being disagreeable. That’s why I welcome Kris P. Kriofske’s letter (except for the proof of Godwin’s rule, but that’s a whole other topic). I have spoken with a number of my friends who share the view that by working together we can make Constitution Week even better. If you want to help, please contact me, or better yet, please contact Neal Cross directly. And always remember, if you thought the 229th anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution was bad, it was at least 22,717 times better than the 75th anniversary. Let’s continue to work together to make Grand Lake’s US Constitution Week the Premiere Constitution Week in America, and make Grand Lake the town where natural law meets natural beauty.

Michael L Tompkins



Grand Lake


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