The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 26, June 28, 2004, Article 5

POLITICS, NUMISMATICS & THE E-SYLUM

  From last week's E-Sylum: "Illustrating the divisions that
  surround Reagan's legacy is the following note ..."

  Warner Talso writes: "I suggest you keep political diatribes
  out of the E-Sylum.  I understand how you justify this
  "illustration", but this is truly a slippery slope."

  Myron Xenos writes: "Sunday nights always afford me a
  chance to gain some more numismatic knowledge, thanks to
  The E-sylum. This Sunday, however, disturbed me more than
  a little. I refer to the posthumous denigration of Pres. Ronald
  Reagan. I would like to take this opportunity to suggest to the
  readers and contributors to The E-Sylum that this seems like
  an inappropriate forum in which to vent one's political
  persuasions. It would seem that "Letters to the Editor" in such
  newspapers as Numismatic News or Coin World would be a
  more useful venue.   It would be a shame to turn The E-Sylum
  into a political opinion column and cause it to lose its novel
  approach to disseminating information literally world-wide.
  Even the writings of some of our esteemed authors and writers
  lose their punch when political agendas rear their heads,
  especially prior to elections. I would prefer to keep The
  E-Sylum more narrowly defined in its goal of numismatic truth."

  [I very rarely turn down any submission, and in the past have
  published opinions from both sides of the political fence, as long
  as there was a connection, preferably numismatic, to an ongoing
  discussion.  Having just discussed several proposals for
  honoring Reagan, I didn't feel it would be out of line to include
  a short opinion from the opposite camp.

  Editing things out is just as slippery a slope as leaving
  certain things in - it is difficult to know where to draw the line
  and inevitably some party will feel wronged.  Publishing any
  plan to honor a public figure is almost guaranteed to generate
  a counter from the opposite camp.   Should we have not
  published the several Reagan proposals in the first place?
  That doesn't feel right, either.  Any coinage proposal is fair
  game.

  The majority of our writers self-censor their comments,
  making such decisions unnecessary.  This is certainly what I
  prefer, as dealing with political issues is nothing I have the time
  or patience for.  So please, let's heed Warner and Myron's
  advice and keep our comments focused on numismatics.
  Thank you.    -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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