The season is upon us once again. No, not duck season, not wabbit season. While baseball season is still in full swing, and football season will soon herald the season of cooler temperatures and beautiful arboreal tapestries, the season to which I refer is election season. At no time is the op-ed page of a newspaper more important than it will be during the next 15 months or so.
For upon these pages we trade in ideas. These pages represent the marketplace of ideas, with logic and reason the coin of the realm. Although some merchants are able to pass the currency of sophistry, most merchants here will not accept it nor offer any rate of exchange. Within this marketplace are stockyards where sacred cows come to be slaughtered.
What goods are traded at this bazaar? Perhaps fine linen and exotic foodstuffs? No, nothing so trivial as that. Upon these pages the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens are up for bid. As one strolls up and down the sidewalks and alleyways, merchants from the right and left hawk their wares to an undecided populace.
On one side, the vendors offer self-help programs, do-it-yourself projects, and fresh food for thought which must be carefully prepared for consumption, all at fair market prices.
The other side does not offer much in the way of actual goods, more like a bill of goods. Instead, they accuse the other side of greed, assigning to themselves the role of social arbiter. They offer little of any substantive value, mainly the often re-gifted concepts of class envy, entitlement, resentment of achievement, and chronic disenchantment.At first glance, one wonders how these purveyors of false premises and flawed logic can stay in business, much less thrive as they do. The second glance is disconcerting, for the lines at their tables tend to be longer than the lines at the tables of those who believe in similar rights, but with responsibilities attached. For example, the right to free speech must be tempered with restrictions on irresponsible speech, including but not limited to, libel, slander and yelling ěfire,î in a crowded theater. Profanity in song lyrics, movies and public venues must be protected. Just be mindful of where you post the Ten Commandments. Certain kinds of freedom of speech are to be stifled. As if all that is not enough, the merchants on the left will try to convince us that the wealthy friends of the merchants on the right should be forced to pay for that which you have purchased from the left, a major selling point; if I am not paying for it, the cost is irrelevant.
From the marketplace, we stroll over to the colosseum of ideas, where culture warriors do battle for the hearts and minds of American society. While some will gird themselves with truth, logic and reason, others will brandish the mauls and maces of demagoguery and distasteful hyperbole. Some have even accused those with whom they disagree of engaging in ideological terrorism. To utter such an analogy is to trivialize terrorism, and is a shameful tactic. As we prepare to do battle with one another in this colosseum of ideas, let us at least agree to some measure of decorum. War is, by nature, barbaric. It need not be unseemly.
Perhaps the most telling element of these critical battles which will determine the direction of our great nation for years to come does not tread the floor of the arena, nor does it pace the cages under the grandstand awaiting its release. No, the most daunting aspect of this clash of cultural gladiators is the number of empty seats. Each empty seat represents a registered voter who will cast a ballot in the primaries and in the general election next November. If not from these pages, where will they obtain the information, facts, and even conflicting opinions needed to make an informed decision? Joy and Whoopi? Jay and Dave? If so, it may as well be Bert and Ernie.
So, let us do battle upon these pages, some from the right, others from the left. My greatest concern is not my worthy adversaries with whom I look forward to doing battle in the coming months. Any angst I may harbor will be the result of those who never read the op-ed page. The greatest danger to our nation is empty seats.

Bruce La Rue lives in Woodleaf.