Cody Stanley

Grand Forks

Hate is not the North Dakota way, and it will not deter me from continuing to use my First Amendment right to express myself. Over the last couple of years I have written several letters to the editor. My latest one was a critique of Representative Armstrong’s views on socialism, which he expressed on Rob Port’s podcast.

On March 11, I received my first hate mail in response to my letter to the editor. The hate mail consisted of three printed off articles; one was from Townhall (online conservative webpage), one was from the Minot Daily News (an opinion piece on the environmental impact of activists), and the last was a copy of Rob Port’s response to my last letter to the editor. The person who mailed me these also wrote all over the margins of these three articles; they called me a colorful assortment of names, asked me how much I give to charity (since college I have consistently given the same percentage to local charities), told me to move to Cuba, said I was stupid, and claimed that President Obama does certain sexual acts in public restrooms.

At first, I have to admit I was a little taken back by this, but then I felt nothing but pity for this person. Whoever did this has nothing better to do with their life than obsess over a letter to the editor. In addition, they must have health issues, as one of the articles was printed off on a patient information leaflet of Simvastatin (Zocor), a medication for high cholesterol.

I hope that whoever did this finds the peace in their life that they are clearly lacking, and that they are not facing any serious medical issues.