Fact

The Sun's editorial board apparently does not read its own reporting ("Obama for president," Nov. 4). Investigations and conclusions of the various reporters and responders have written dissertations that are the polar opposites with the campaign sound bites displayed in "The Record. " Moreover, the board is ignorant of the Constitution and just how it is supposed to work. Any president can push, prod, cajole, and even legislatively bribe to get what he wants but he can not command it to be done and have it done only his way. One would think that with majorities in the House and Senate for President Barack Obama's first two years that crafting and passing a budget would be a first base kind of project.

There is no TV genre more problematic than docudrama. And Sunday's premiere of "SEAL Team Six," which claims to be the true, inside story of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, is as problematic as they come. The core issues all grow from the docudramatist's desire to have it both ways in mixing fact and fiction. The goal is to have the credibility of the documentary as well as the poetic license to invent and collapse facts and details in the name of the most compelling storytelling.

Your editorial on Vice President Joseph Biden's debate performance against Rep. Paul Ryan seems to have somehow ignored several factual errors by the incumbent ("Biden connects," Oct. 13). For starters, Mr. Biden claimed "we weren't told they wanted more security" in answer to a question about the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya on the anniversary of 9/11. In doing so, Mr. Biden was contradicting the sworn congressional testimony of State Department officials last week, prompting GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to say the next day that the vice president was "doubling down on denial.

Did You Know? Howard County is known nationwide for its schools, parks, sports programs, libraries and affluence. But tucked away in faded, aging documents and longtime residents' minds, there are plenty of little-known facts that might just surprise you. #1 Take Morse to the water In the early 1800s, the village of Poplar Springs in western Howard County served as a temporary home for travelers headed west. Travelers including Samuel F.B. Morse, one of the inventors of Morse code, were drawn to the town for its lodging, food, general store, post office and blacksmith services for horses and wagons, according to “Howard's Roads to the Past,” by Barbara W. Feaga.

Unfortunately for your readers, Dan Rodricks ' column on the Towson melee was long on rhetoric but short on facts ("Refs, retail politics and a quiet delegate: After the Towson melee, wondering what happened to Pat McDonough," Sept. 27). When the Baltimore County Police deemed that the crowd gathered near the Towson Circle was overwhelming, their first response was to call for back up; then they enlisted the help of the Maryland State Police. There is no shame in asking for help, and using the resources of the Maryland State Police is something I've long advocated for in Baltimore City.

The usual whining from the extreme right about media bias is evident in a recent letter from Stephen Sewell ("Sun lavishes attention on 'Occupy,' ignores tea party," Sept. 24). The writer is long on allegations and short on facts. Mr. Sewell suggests that tea party members are "perceived as backward, ignorant, uneducated … bigoted, homophobic, sexist, religious zealots, etc. " Those are pretty strong charges, yet unsupported by any examples. On the other hand, the letter writer portrays "Occupy" members as slovenly lawbreakers that get "above the fold" coverage in The Sun - coverage Mr. Sewell claims is "usually glowing and lauds the goals and principles of these people.

Fifty years after Rachel Carson was attacked by industrial interests for writing "Silent Spring" ("'Silent Spring' echo still eloquent," Sept. 16), the players have changed but the game is still the same. Courageous climate scientists such as James Hansen, Michael Mann, Katharine Hayhoe and Kerry Emanuel are routinely smeared by representatives of the fossil fuel industry for highlighting the risks of unrestricted greenhouse gas emissions. Even those who point out that a revenue-neutral carbon tax is the best way to solve the problem of global warming have been assaulted in online alleys by Big Oil's goons.

Letter writer Wayne Brown epitomizes the problem in our political system with his polarizing and uninformed comments ("Choice is clear: Obama has to go," Sept. 7). With thoughtless generalizations such as his view that the headline "Clinton sees clear choice" is "comic relief to most of us out here who view the Democrats as the party that obviously lives on another planet," people like Mr. Brown contribute little to the political discourse in our country. I have to wonder if Mr. Brown has ever had a basic economics class?

Fact: Photo identification is a necessary element of life in America today. Opinion: Don't believe it? Try cashing an out-of-town check; visiting just about any office building in the country; getting on a commercial airplane; or, buying some types of non-prescription allergy medicines. Of course, Attorney General Eric Holder possesses a more selective view of photo identification. For him, having to produce such proof of identity at the polls is somehow discriminatory against minorities.

Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. strikes again ("Nervous Obama takes refuge in his base," Aug. 26) in a column where he chooses to present falsehood and half-truths as fact. Economic growth is anemic, but he states that $5 trillion in new debt is the cause of the credit downgrade and holds President Barack Obama as the cause of that. However, at the time of the decision, Standard and Poors stated the fault resided with Congress for holding the country hostage and on the brink of default. He then goes on to say that young people vote for President Obama because he is "hip and charismatic" and here they can't get jobs and "students are in debt purgatory.