I believe the April 7 letter writer who questioned the judgment of "the local Tea Party" may have misunderstood my intent (Letters, March 31).
I applaud her love of America and her appreciation of our First Amendment protections. As a free individual, she is, of course, entitled to her opinions. Her further expression of support for our free market system and her choice of where she spends her own dollars are part of what makes us a great nation - freedom of choice.
Fiscal responsibility is one of the cornerstones of the TEA Party Maui core values, along with constitutionally limited government and the free enterprise system based upon personal responsibility.
However, freedom is not the ability to do whatever one wants, it is really the absence of necessity, coercion and constraint. Organizing an effort to coerce and constrain the radio station owner, who is simply attempting to offer his listeners an opportunity to hear and evaluate the many views expressed on the various topics by the various hosts who are broadcast over his station, is, in effect, coercion and constraint.
As a nonpartisan group, a part of whose mission is to attract, educate and inform, TEA Party Maui was complimenting the station owner not on what was said by the talk show host but the station's observance of balanced programming for all. More speech, not less, is what's required for voters to form their own conclusions and make responsible, informed and well-considered choices come the November elections.
Bill Doyle
President, TEA Party Maui
Kihei
