OUR VIEW: Refugee discussion deserved better

We’re all for more public information and discussion of the issues that affect us all. That’s why we were pleased to hear that the Carlton County Republicans had arranged a public information meeting with an expert on refugees, to inform the public on facts and research.

We even heard from the presenter, Ron Branstner, who told us he had 15 years experience studying the issue of refugees and immigration in the United States, and that he had compiled facts and data and was willing to travel here to share his research.

“I’ve been studying this issue for 15 years, and will present facts and data I’ve learned,” Branstner told Pine Knot News publisher Pete Radosevich.

Imagine our surprise then, when we watched livestreams of Branstner’s meeting and discovered his “discussion” featured an abundance of propaganda and misinformation.

It turns out that Branstner has no formal training in research or scientific method, but simply dislikes immigrants and has developed wild theories and baseless speculation to arrive at conclusions unsupported by anything more than his predetermined observations. It appears he started with a conclusion, and then looked for data to back up his theory. That’s not research. That’s propaganda.

A healthy debate of the issues that affect us all is beneficial to democracy.

Misinformation, biased speech, and unsupported accusations are not.

Emotions are high on divisive issues such as immigration and refugee resettlement — not the same thing, by the way — which makes it easier for some to tolerate innuendo and inflammatory conclusions, without balancing those emotions with solid reason. That’s a lazy approach to decision making. Carlton County deserves better.

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