Editor, The News:

Recently, Sen. John McCain was interviewed on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” He told the poignant, tear-jerker story of how a woman came to him at an airport and handed him a photograph of her son; he is serving in Iraq.

She hoped that McCain would protect him and all the other troops.

If the encounter was not staged, how did this woman bypass McCain’s security and the Secret Service agents, just as cameras were recording every teardrop?

During the debate with Barack Obama, the photograph magically turned into a bracelet. What a lucky man.

This incident is just one of the constant flow of distortions and misleading statements created by his managers. What is not a lie is that McCain boasts of how he voted to support President Bush more than 90 percent of the time.

Why is that important? On Sept. 25, Condoleezza Rice admitted meetings were held in the White House among senior administration officials on how to torture prisoners. Therefore, McCain is ardently supporting a president who lied on this and every topic since 2001. I remember Bush’s statement that we do not torture and do not condone it.

Additionally, McCain’s choice of the inexperienced, power-seeking Sarah Palin (she feels that being able to see Russia from Alaska should be counted as foreign policy experience) while claiming Obama’s inexperience disqualifies him, is ludicrous.

Consider this: McCain and Palin are elected, but two weeks into his administration, he suffers a disabling stroke, like Woodrow Wilson. Soon after, Russia pours troops into Georgia, and this “Saturday Night Live” superstar has her finger on the nuclear button. Think about that.

Obama is, by contrast, articulate, insightful and honest. He isn’t perfect, but his programs are well conceived, and he can effect sensible solutions to complex domestic and international problems.

Thomas J. Burns

New Castle