Pro-Obama bias is plain as day

Recently I read a publisher's column in the Daily Herald expressing concern that many people attribute a liberal bias to the Daily Herald. The writer professed to be at a loss to understand why some people held this view. I suggest the opinion item in the Sunday, Sept. 6, issue may offer some explanation.

The opinion discussed the reaction of many people to President Obama's intent to address the students in America's public schools. It expressed surprise at the adverse reactions and called them over the top. It completely ignored the issue on the table. The negative reaction was not to the President's proposed speech, but to the lesson plan issued by the White House for teachers to use with the speech. One example: "Students in grades pre-K-6, for example, are encouraged to "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the President. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals." There were several other suggestions in the lesson plans. Some seem to suggest a level of indoctrination to be applied by the teachers.

Whether the lesson plan actually intended to suggest indoctrination or some form of propaganda for the President's programs is beside the point. A two-minute search of the Web using Google would have found references to the lesson plans and the adverse reactions. But your opinion item made no mention of the lesson plan.

When the average person has access to many sources of news and information, seeing this kind of distortion suggests a bias.

Mark W. Bailey

Round Lake Beach