When I read in the Reporter that Mayor David Baker, who belongs to a political party whose members have demonized Barack Obama, met with the president, I applauded. It was proof that the leaders of my hometown and my country are both wise and mature enough to set aside petty partisan squabbles to work together on matters of importance to all of us.

Then I saw the unfortunate letter from Robert Bryce, which used this occasion as an excuse to mindlessly kick sand in the president’s eyes by saying Obama is unqualified to be mayor of Kenmore. Why would he say Obama is unqualified (besides the fact that he is not a resident here)? A graduate of Columbia and Harvard Law, an Illinois state senator and U.S. Senator were good enough qualifications to convince 52 percent of American voters that Obama is eligible to be president. Republicans who are unable to challenge Obama on the issues launch one false accusation after another. Saying the president is a Muslim, a communist, a fascist, uses a forged birth certificate — or is unqualified to hold office — has no basis in reality and is intellectually lazy.

Another letter in the same issue, by Bill Hirt, alleges that Occupy Wall Street protests are the result of a society in which every student get A’s and sports no longer has winners and losers. Why would he say such a thing? My son’s Kenmore Little League baseball team played in the league championships by beating rivals — and lost to a superior team. I have sent four children to Inglemoor High. None ever received an A without pouring sweat into homework and tests; they all got their share of B’s and C’s, too.

I am pleased that the Reporter runs letters from all its readers, even when the writers have no basis in fact but merely repeat false right-wing slogans. It’s much easier to let Fox News do your thinking than to analyze issues on their own merit. No wonder Karl Rove ridiculed George W. Bush’s political foes as the “fact-based community.”

John Wright, Kenmore