Published: April 30, 2008 12:34 am         

People too gullible

To the editor:

It amazes me, that people are so gullible to believe anything negative about our current president. Mr. Purcell’s letter sounded so intelligent and backed up by so much research. However, if you do the research, you find out that this is one of the many hoaxes that have been spread via the world wide web. I looked up the Urban Legend Research Page (snopes .com) to verify what I remembered about an e-mail that was circulating. Sure enough, the article explains “that there isn’t a ‘Lowenstein Institute’ in Scranton, Pa. and nor do any of the people quoted in the article really exist.” This began circulating during the summer of 2001 on the Internet. Mr. Purcell should not feel bad for falling for this hoax. After all, “The London Guardian” and the “New Zealand Southland Times" both fell for it and reported it as factual. The "U.S. News and World Report” reported the article as a hoax on Aug. 20, 2001; and the Guardian later posted a retraction.

There are currently e-mails circulating about John McCain, Barak Obama, and Hillary Clinton that make claims that are not true, or at least not completely factual. Before propagating these lies, it would probably be a good thing to take the time to research them.

President Kennedy’s IQ has been reported to be 119, not the genius level of 174 that the article claimed. If it was 174, the Bay of Pigs fiasco would not have happened and Fidel Castro would not have been able to use it to strengthen his dictatorship. If Bill Clinton had an IQ of 182, Osama Bin Laden would have been either captured or killed and 2800 innocent civilians would still be alive today. Do I dare go into the Lewinsky scandal? If Jimmy Carter has an IQ of 175, why didn’t he resolve the Iran hostage ordeal and why does he cozy up to terrorists like the Hamas and dictators like Chavez? President George W. Bush, according to one source, has an IQ of 138 instead of the 91 that was reported. I am thankful that this president has been able to stand up to the terrorists and all enemies of freedom that let them know that the United States will defend itself with all its strength and without remorse. Sure, I wish President Bush had controlled spending a little better and maybe stood up against the liberals a little stronger. He has not been the perfect president, but he is far better than the “miserable failure” that Mr. Purcell has rated him.

Kevin Sutterfield

Greenville