In the editorial of Oct. 27, “Another term for Mr. Bush,” the Sun Journal editorial board exercised its right to express a choice for the next president. Like other American citizens, members of the board deserve that right, but they also need to be held accountable for the way they exercise it. Although board members are not elected leaders, they are in a position to show the way by virtue of their role as gatherer, disseminator and interpreter of information, a commodity without which people cannot perform their duties as citizens. Given the newspaper’s function in our democratic society, if it misleads its readers, if it twists information to fit biases, it must be made answerable.

The editorial is an extraordinary example of incomprehension and faulty logic. It’s full of half-truths about both presidential candidates, unsubstantiated negative statements about one of them, and overblown claims about the other. In it, the board states that one candidate “has failed to convince us he’s the right guy,” because the other “has remained strong.” In other words, the editorialist blames one for not getting through to the members of the board when that is probably their fault more than his, and she translates the other’s mule-headed behavior into “strong” and “decisive.”

The editorial reveals faulty reasoning and an inability to analyze a complex situation. It was an irresponsible conclusion. Sun Journal readers deserve better.

Maurice C. Fillion, Lewiston