We can't learn from distorted history

I am writing this letter after having just read an article titled "Historical reality of slaveholding can't be forgotten" by Eugene Robinson and printed in the Thursday April 15, 2010, Daily Herald editorial section. I must say that Mr. Robinson is absolutely right and poetically stated exactly how I feel about the subject. The way these politicians and others talk about historical events in their own version of what they perceive to have happened is an absolute affront to all Americans past and present. Society may never benefit from the mistakes of the past as long as there are politicians and organized groups which go about distorting what really happened in previous times. This seems to be the way a lot of politicians and action groups are becoming used to doing to business. They get interviewed on TV, radio and on the Internet and say whatever they feel will serve their position or view point; regardless of whether there is any truth to the matter or not. Yes we have free speech in America, but at what price? What happened to holding a person accountable for the rhetoric they attempt to espouse as fact or truth? Sinister things tend to happen to societies that choose not to hold free speech to a higher standard and allow these gross misrepresentations to be stated as fact. Remember failure to learn from past mistakes dooms a society to repeat them!

America, it is time for us to stand up and show these self-serving politicians and action groups that we will hold them to a higher standard when espousing their self-serving historical viewpoints!

Mike Kelley

Gurnee