Leighton and Dorr Township Boards have been grappling with a solicitation ordinance, seemingly with the belief that hucksters have a right to annoy homeowners by attempting to sell them things they don’t need.

I suppose I will be regarded as as Libtard by some of my right-wing “friends,” but I don’t believe anyone has a right to to intrude on our privacy unless we permit it expressly. Though I support freedom of expression, such as Colin Kaepernick taking a knee, I don’t think it’s the same thing as the Fuller Brush man knocking at my door, Jehovah’s Witnesses canvassing my neighborhood to covert us or a telemarketer interrupting whatever I’m doing in the privacy of my own home to sell me some snake oil.

I just don’t think freedom of speech should protect someone who is making unwanted advances on my home, my space or my time.

In these modern times, we consumers have plenty of opportunities to select what goods or services we want to buy, and the omnipresent market and advertising certainly does a bang-up job of clamoring for our attention and ourbusiness. It is virtually as impossible as death and taxes to escape being exposed to advertising and marketing messages.

Because of that, I don’t see how it’s necessary or desirable for anyone to go door-to-door to bother residents, with the obvious exception of verifiably charitable causes. And even they should register with local government authorities in this day and age of scams.

Leighton Township this past week decided against crafting a solicitation ordinance, maintaining that it can best be handed through common sense regulations and guidelines. There was much more hand-wringing over the issue in Dorr Township, where Township Trustee John Tuinstra seemed to indicate his belief that people selling wares and services have a right to do so and should be given every opportunity.

I personally am fed up with constantly being marketed to, whether it’s the overabundance of ads on TV, the pop-up ads on the Internet, billboards trying to get your attention while you’re driving your motor vehicle or even during a visit to a gas station, a dentist’s office or doctor’s office.

I now consider virtually all door-to-door salespersons to be in the same ballpark as telemarketers. They interrupt our personal business and invade our privacy, all to try to con us into buying something that we don’t want or need. I don’t understand why they should be protected.

I believe all business people have a right to try to sell something, but they should be relegated to certain places and certain times that are clearly understood by buyer and huckster. And that doesn’t include my home or telephone.

I am very disappointed in our local, state and national politicians and their efforts to “create a healthy bidness climate” while doing virtually nothing to stop telemarketing calls and invasions of our property. If politicians really worked for us, they’d insist the carnival barkers leave us alone.