This is in response to Albert Aniel’s letter regarding Sen. Barack Obama: for heaven’s sake, are you kidding me?

Since when has someone’s ancestor’s faith disqualified him or her for public office? For that matter, would it really make a difference if Obama was Muslim (which, as anyone who gets their information from sources other than talk radio and Fox News should know, he is not)?

Should we dismiss qualified candidates who are Jewish? Mormon? Buddhist? Hindu? Believe it or not, one does not have to be a mainstream Christian to be a patriot.

And to the accusation that Obama is ashamed of his middle name because he does not use it on a daily basis, I think it would be more accurate to assume he is aware that people such as Mr. Aniel would try to use his heritage as a tool to frighten the ignorant.

By the way, Sen. John McCain’s middle name is Sidney. Does anyone know or care?

Do you think he’s ashamed of it?

My advice to anyone who wants reasonable people to take their political views seriously and avoid being perceived as a bigot is to stick to the issues.

Abbey Rice, Rumford