Focus on facts, not rhetoric

This is in response to the "Obama is just a wolf in sheep's clothing" letter that appeared in the 10/26 Fencepost. Regarding Senator Obama's real affiliations and real exposures to Ayers, Rezko, et. al., they have been written about and talked about ad nauseam. The facts are available to those who are interested. The 30 years of Fannie Mae's disastrous behavior can hardly be dumped solely on the Democrats when Republican presidents and a multitude of Republican Congresses were in power for 20 of those 30 years.

Calling the millions of people who have or will vote for Obama, "idiots" is a bit harsh. The facts are the facts and just because there are people who refuse to read, listen and understand them is not Senator Obama's fault. Too many people stay attached to those red herrings because they refuse to accept the truth and continue to believe that if the facts don't agree with what they believe, then the facts should be changed. There are many nonpartisan institutes and organizations online that address misconceptions, lies and half-truths and actually provide factual information. They may not be what you would like them to be, but there are times we must be grown-ups and accept the truth for what it is and not what we want it to be.

Meanwhile, this country has real problems that require more than misplaced anger and single-minded tunnel vision to solve: We have an economic crisis of epic proportions being handled by the same people who created it. Both parties should be ashamed at their behavior over the past 35 or 40 years. - We have an administration that has not only managed to give new meaning to corruption of power, but has also placed our mentally and physically wounded service men and women at risk from wholesale neglect of military hospitals and other health facilities.

The shameful way our military has been treated is inexcusable and the Bush administration and people in Congress (both party's) who are responsible should be prosecuted. Shame on all of us for allowing them to get away with it.

We have Republicans running for office who have reinvented themselves "independent" as a dishonest way of distancing themselves from the mess they and their party have made in Washington. Reason enough to toss them out of office. The Democrats are no better. Even though some well-meaning (but terribly misinformed) folks believe that the United States will disintegrate into a vast abyss of socialistic ooze if Barack Obama is elected; can't we all agree that our political system is broken and as a people, we need to open our minds, put those misconceptions aside and clean up the mess we have allowed to fester? Come on people. Stop believing that propaganda your political parties are spewing and get the real facts. Wasn't it Jesus who said, "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free"?

Len Brauer

Palatine