On Sept. 19, “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” showed a clip of a speech by John McCain in which he castigated Barack Obama for taking more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After the clip, the TV reporter said that actually McCain had received a much greater contribution from the companies.

Lies and deliberate distortions have been prominent in the speeches of the two Republican candidates. McCain accused Obama of advocating sex education for kindergarten children. This was blatantly false.

Sarah Palin has repeatedly said that she said “thanks but no thanks” to the bridge to nowhere, but she took the money. She rails against pork and lobbyists, but she hired a Washington lobbying firm to secure pork for her state. Alaska has the highest per capita pork allotment of any state.

It is about time we had some honest officials, not attack dogs who do nothing but viciously go after their opponents. It would be nice if we could have an honest discussion of issues.

June Stiller

Sebec