We are not special.

A recent exchange at the Muncy Township supervisors’ meeting had a member of our staff defending the First Amendment and the right of Americans to have independent reporting on the conduct of their government — local, state and municipal.

One of the aspects of America’s principles that has made our nation great is the principle of freedom of the press — and a 250-year history of Americans monitoring, criticizing and questioning their government, a right that exists for every man and every woman.

We exercise these rights because they are important — important enough that our society did not reserve them exclusively for us.

They are your rights too.

And the practices of a majority of this board of supervisors have displayed an alarming trend of attempting to deprive men and women of these rights — resistance to right-to-know requests from constituents and opportunities for public comment, failures to comply with the property rights and right to fair adjudication for property owners seeking development, attempts to silence township staff from sharing their perspectives with the public.

One moment where a township supervisor — a public servant — suggests a newspaper and news website should refrain from recording and publishing the unvarnished proceedings of a public meeting because it “escalates” division does not make the Sun-Gazette special. That one moment is not especially important compared to all the other moments of resistance and failure and attempting silencing.

Supervisors Terri Lauchle’s and Denise Artley’s aversion to the liberties of Americans — the specific liberties that police and hold local government accountable to taxpayers and the liberties of all Americans — is what’s important.