Online extra letter | Campaigning has just become petty | Myrtle Beach Sun News

The lack of respect and bullying have just gone way too far this election. Calling ourselves "Conservative Christians" and using fear and lies to get people to choose our point of view are not exactly Christian in my book. Somewhere I recall that we are our brother’s keeper.

The recent new ad with the Chinese gloating over the U.S. demise in 2030 is not only fear inspiring with terrible lies but also denigrating to the Chinese Culture of which many are US citizens. Shame on the group that calls themselves “American” for putting out this type of ad.

To the senders of emails that have been doctored up by cutting and pasting to make it appear Obama has lost support from someone or Romney has gained it from someone, this is like middle school gossip. It is bullying, plain and simple. The very thing we are supposed to be teaching our children not to do. As adults we should be leading by example but we have been very poor examples this election season. And we can’t just blame the politicians. How can educated people be so cowardly to not be able to stand up for their choice without putting out lies? And don’t feign ignorance—there are plenty of websites to access with fact checking.

Obama has made many attempts to help our country out of this recession. Unfortunately, the only group that keeps stopping him is a number of Republicans in Congress. They are the can’t group. They have basically decided to make Obama a one term president as their goal. It was their mantra from day one when he won the presidency—very sad.

Obama had the guts to pass the affordable health care act as he promised.

When Bill Clinton was in office, Hillary Clinton proposed a Health Care bill under the Democrats and everyone backed off--too much controversy and fear--politics. Then the Republicans had 6 years with a president and control of Congress and they did nothing for health care--again fear & politics. Obama finally had the guts to take a stand and so did many congressional Republicans--it didn't get passed without Republican support including Romney's. But now the Republicans want to "repeal" the entire Act! And go back to what? The policies that got us into the recession? Maybe the bill needs adjusting—compromises need to be made.

Insurance has been out of control for years--they are a business and need to make a profit. At least under the new law, they have the "medical loss ratio" which means they can't spend all the money for profit--in S.C. 80% must go for health care while only 20% for administrative costs. (Each state is different) I won't give to a charity that is heavy in administrative expenses--why should our health care be compromised by administrative expenses?

When Romney was in Massachusetts he vetoed 800 pieces of legislation and was overridden by the legislature on 700 on those proposals. Not exactly, a good record for getting along. It also shows that he didn't get Mass. back on track alone. But he also, with the Democrats in Mass., passed a law similar to the AHCA.

There are those who say they want “new” blood—throw out the career politicians. But only if they aren’t your party favorite. Right? How long has Romney been in politics? Which Romney is he—the conservative tea party person or the moderate? He changed his views on FEMA with Hurricane Sandy. What else will he change his mind on?

I don't think either man is a villain. But at least I know that the grass isn't greener on the other side either. And I pray for whichever man wins, because this recession will take years for us to come back from which no politician seems to want to admit. And until there is a healthy respect for all sides in this country, it will take a lot longer for us to arrive at normalcy. It won’t be “outsiders” that will bring us down—it will be done by our own hands.

It’s all about control. Not exactly a trait that breeds cooperation or brings people up. It only breeds fear and anger. There was a time in this country when after an election was won, there was compromise—team work. There’s another trait, we aspire to have our children learn, but certainly not by our example as adults lately. It was refreshing to see politicians working together in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy. But isn’t it sad that it takes a crisis for that to happen.

I may have offended some, but I will stand by my convictions and beliefs. I only hope that people will vote based on facts and not on lies or because of fears or anger.

The writer lives in Murrells Inlet.