One of the many things I love about living in the United States is that I can dislike or disagree with the president and not end up in a mass grave somewhere. Our Constitution fully supports the often heated discourse that goes on regarding President Bush and so it should. However, I often see people getting so consumed with hatred for him that they don’t even make sense.

An example of this is Erik Steele’s column on Tuesday. It’s a big stretch to somehow make a column on the importance of hand washing into an indictment of President Bush. I respect Dr. Steele’s credentials; in fact, he seems like the type of compassionate man who makes a great doctor. I do believe, however difficult it is for him, that he should resist the temptation to use his column as a forum for continually airing his disagreement with the present administration.

He has some very important and interesting facts about hand washing but they got lost in his all-consuming political views.

He’s right. Hand washing is important – for Democrats and Republicans!

Lisa M. Norsworthy

Bangor