Do better screening of health care letters

Shame on The Gazette, and shame on Michael Cook, for his Aug. 26, letter so obviously taken from a false and misleading e-mail widely circulated by right-wing opponents of health care reform. The contents of this e-mail have been widely debunked by many objective sources, including the frequently unreliable Fox News.

I suggest Cook actually read the proposed House bill from which these references are taken. He will find them to be as intended, an attempt to scare people with false information.

The Gazette should do a better job of screening letters to avoid aiding and abetting this kind of trash, and indirectly participating in a campaign of deception that is rampant on the Internet.

A recent poll shows this campaign of falsehoods is succeeding. More than half the poll respondents believe information that has been proven false. How can we make an intelligent decision on health care reform with half the population basing its opinion on false information?

There is plenty of room to debate health care reform on its merits without resorting to false and misleading information.

John D. Bryant

Cedar Rapids