Letters: Can we have a more civil, intelligent discussion?

Details about Sarah Palin's record and policy positions are welcome information that is getting little play in the corporate media; however the comparison of the current Republican vice-presidential candidate to our local mayor in recent letters to the editor was unfortunate, merely opening a door for a regressive response.

Good grief! Jimmy Carter's energy policy was not limited to turning down thermostats and putting on sweaters. To say so displays either incredible ignorance or simply a desire to repeat a tried and true rhetorical device to generate an emotional response and subvert critical thought.

This same tactic is even more thinly veiled in the comments about the Clintons. Using something so completely unrelated to the topic at hand is a blatant attempt to manipulate the discourse. Good grief again! Bill Clinton did not delegate the presidency to Hillary.

And regardless of what Bob Berkowitz describes as Clinton's "trouble with his zipper," let's please remember that while Bill Clinton was impeached (indicted) by the House of Representatives, he was found not guilty in the Senate impeachment trial. Seems that information has fallen down the same memory hole as Jimmy Carter's energy policy.

Please, people. Can we have more intelligent, civil discourse and less overheated, over-worn propaganda? If we can't share our positions without trashing the opposition, what does it say?

Pat Gargaetas

Crescent City