In his recent column, “Do you still desire freedom?” (July 2), John Balentine suggests that people who didn’t fight the mask mandate during the pandemic don’t like freedom. He further implies that “real” Americans should resist any intrusion on their individual liberties. That staggering leap of logic may fly with Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity, […]

John Balentine fixates on the “F-word” – not that one, but “freedom.” (“Do you still desire freedom?”, July 2). As a Republican, he believes freedom is bestowed only upon individuals, rather than a “collective right” shared by all citizens. In “The Social Contract,” Rousseau writes “… a society by means of a contract among themselves.” […]