On Oct. 28, the Albert Lea Tribune ran a letter to the editor from Carol Bybee. In this letter, Bybee quoted Abigail Adams to explain why the Obama Administration is dangerous. It was not so subtly implied that the Obama administration is currently laden with undesirables who have alleged criminal ulterior motives. These allegations were based on only one source, WorldNetDaily.

Bybee claims that President Obama is causing our country to be less than the republic for which John and Abigail Adams fought. Worth noting is the fact that John Adams himself helped to overthrow an existing government. I am in no way implying that this is the intention of the president; I am simply saying that Adams was not averse to making significant changes for the betterment of the citizens in this nation during a time when many were adamantly opposed to such change. Whether the Adamses would be pleased with Obama’s politics I cannot know, but I believe that John and Abigail Adams would be pleased with the peaceful transfer of executive power demonstrated through democratic elections every four years. Only one year ago, Barack Obama received 365 electoral votes and 53 percent of the popular vote (www.cnn.com).

Out of curiosity, I checked the Web site Bybee cited in her letter. WorldNetDaily is touted as a conservative news Web site. After I cleared up the virus warnings that barraged my computer after opening this site, I saw advertisements from the likes of Ann Coulter and Roger Hedgecock. Most of us already know Coulter. Lesser known is Hedgecock, who was himself charged with conspiracy and perjury while mayor of San Diego in 1985 (www.latimes.com). In addition, this Web site has headlines such as “Confirmed: Skin Cream Contains Fetal Proteins.” This is not a credible source.

Whether we believe that Obama can perform miracles or that he is a danger to our country, we have to understand our own biases and sift through them to find the truth. It is imperative to have more than one source for news because sometimes our sources present us with material that looks an awful lot like real journalism but, in fact, is opinion.

And we should certainly examine history and historical figures such as John and Abigail Adams, but we must recognize that we will project our own philosophies onto them. We have no idea what they would have thought of President Obama, but when we speculate, it’s paramount to remember that historical speculation is not synonymous with historical fact. The biggest danger to this country, in my opinion, is not Barack Obama or any of his advisers or staffers. Rather, the biggest threat to our country is an electorate who believes everything they read online and hear on television.

Amanda Lester

Albert Lea