Republicans should try a little honesty

Instead of defending their own positions, Republicans have become masters at dishonestly attacking opposing positions. They do this by incorrectly presenting the opposing position and then criticizing that phony position. They did this, for example, in the health care debate by criticizing the nonexistent "death panels" and by calling the increased regulation of insurance companies "a government takeover of the health care system." Sheer nonsense, but they do get away with it.

Now they are doing it with the President's pledge not to launch a nuclear attack against a country that abides by the nonproliferation treaty.

In Monday's Herald, Charles Krauthammer attempted to scare people by creating a scenario in which "hundreds of thousands were lying dead on the streets of Boston" following a biological attack by a country that abided by the NPT. He suggested that the President would be in a very weak position, being reduced to using "bullets or other conventional munitions."

Krauthammer ignored the fact that the U.S. has invested billions into the development of precision weapons, such as "smart bombs," which are quite effective at killing people and destroying property. In fact, the threat posed by such weapons is far more credible than the threat of nuclear weapons that could not be used in places such as North Korea or Syria without causing fallout risks to neighboring countries that are our allies.

Unfortunately, conservatives such as Krauthammer, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin are far more interested in stirring up conservative opposition than in presenting honest and accurate arguments.

Jeff Huebner

Schaumburg