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Opinion

The country has come apart. Rural America has a cure.

By August 18, 2023No Comments
Editor’s Note:  The author of this Opinion column is Dana Milbank.  Dana Milbank is a nationally syndicated op-ed columnist for The Washington Post. He also provides political commentary for various TV outlets, and is the author of three books on politics, including the national bestseller “Homo Politicus.”
Like author Milbank, we mourn how the “United States has lost about 2,500 local newspapers — one-quarter of the total — since 2005, and papers continue to fold at the rate of two per week, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism calculates.”

“Since buying an old farm in the Virginia countryside last year, I have learned many things from the local weekly, the Rappahannock News. Among them:

“Chuck and Diane Moore just celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary.

“Mae Racer makes the best rice pudding.

“A new bench at the corner of Main and Porter streets memorializes Chuck Hunter.

“Ploy Goodnight did the decorations for the Child Care and Learning Center luncheon.

“And Doug and Beverly Exline enjoyed a relaxing week on vacation in North Carolina.

“I freely admit that I don’t know any of these people. Yet, I am enthralled.

“At a time when hooligans have hijacked the national discourse …

Read more — Dana Milbank writes for The Washington Post:  The country has come apart.  Rural America has a solution.