Letter: His request: Stick to ‘the facts’

I would like to ask writers to this paper to be responsible in voicing their opinions.

If you are going to call the president a liar, point out the lies. It’s easy to fall into a habit where all you do is insult somebody and provide no facts to back it up.

In an election year where you hear public officials lament the ruling on the HealthCare bill by telling us it’s the biggest tax increase in our history (it’s not), or claiming the individual mandate is a tax on the middle class, when it’s expected to tax one percent of the population, it may seem kosher to write letters using our elected officials as models.

I’m asking you not to.

Yes, when Mitt Romney feels comfortable telling us that, “President Obama didn’t cause the financial crisis, he just made it worse,” then denying he ever said that, it may seem a small thing to offer up lies.

Watching the Romney campaign take one sentence from a speech made by the president, which had the exact same message about the role of government in business given by Mr. Romney, and try to misrepresent what the president had said, you might wonder where you should draw the line.

After watching the very first TV spot by the Romney campaign, where it took a sound bite of President Obama quoting something John McCain had said, and making it appear this was President Obama’s position, you might feel honesty and integrity are irrelevant.

All I’m asking is that when you make accusations which call into question the character of an official or a candidate, or a political party, back it up with facts.

Tags: opinion, letters, politics