A Response to Our Concerned Reader About “Liberal Muck,” Rainbows, and Other Terrifying Phenomena

Dear JYoungs@comcast.net,

First, thank you for taking the time to write. We appreciate reader engagement—especially when it arrives wrapped in phrases like “sespool of liberal muck.” It really brightens the editorial inbox.

A quick note, though: the word is “cesspool.” A sespool sounds more like a Scandinavian spa treatment, which frankly might improve everyone’s mood.

You expressed concern that our publication has become too “far left” and that events like Rainbow Bingo display what you described as “sexual disgust.” This is fascinating because most people who attend report seeing something quite different: bingo cards, daubers, questionable jokes, and a room full of neighbors laughing while raising money for community causes.

If that counts as moral collapse, then we regret to inform you that the collapse also includes potato salad, door prizes, and someone inevitably yelling “BINGO!” three numbers too early. Incidentally, a community member posts the Rainbow Bingo events, not me. And because we believe in the First Amendment, you can even post your Klan meetings without censure.

You also mentioned that our town “used to be non-political.” We agree—it’s a lovely idea. Unfortunately, history suggests that towns are rarely non-political; they simply reflect whoever happens to live in them. And, somewhat inconveniently for the culture police, some of those residents turn out to be LGBTQ+. I’ve resided here for over 50 years, and our little city has always been progressive and welcoming to everyone.

We realize this can be shocking. One moment you’re enjoying a peaceful evening, and the next moment—bam—someone who is LGBTQ+ is existing within a five-mile radius. Truly unprecedented times. Oh, the humanity of it! I sympathize with how this impacts your quality of life.

You also suggested that I’m somehow “spewing his sexual orientation.” We checked carefully, and it turns out that simply being open about who you are is not, in fact, spewing. If it were, every straight couple holding hands at the grocery store would be guilty of aggressive heterosexual broadcasting. Imagine the chaos. Speaking of straight, I'm a male married for 36 years to a female, if you must know.

Since I don’t post the Rainbow Bingo events, I’m not sure how you made this connection, but I’d gladly post them if asked.

For the record, this publication remains proudly supportive of two ideas that occasionally irritate people:

1. The First Amendment which allows you to write emails calling our city a "sespool".
2. LGBTQ+ people, who stubbornly continue to exist, host bingo nights, volunteer, pay taxes, and generally behave like…residents of the same town.

One of the wonderful—and occasionally inconvenient—things about free speech is that it works both ways. You can dislike Rainbow Bingo. You can dislike our editorial tone. You can even dislike the alarming proliferation of rainbows. 

But other people are still free to attend bingo, support LGBTQ+ neighbors, and write articles you may not enjoy reading. 

That’s not the downfall of the town. That’s simply how a free society works. 

In the meantime, we invite you to stop by a Rainbow Bingo sometime. The worst thing that will happen is you might win a gift basket.

And if that does occur, we promise not to accuse you of spewing bingo.

Peace and thank you for unsubscribing.