I really had to mull my response to letter writer Ilene O'Connell ("Ashamed of the country that re-elected Obama," Nov. 8). Initially, I was incredulous and dismissive. I realize that won't help here. First, she could have looked up that he was a U.S. Senator first and that he campaigned for 16 months before becoming the nominee. She's had four years to get to know President Barack Obama and see what he accomplished.

Liberals have rolled their eyes at the idea that any president controls the price of gas at anyone's pump. She has no understanding that unemployment has improved even recently and that President Obama is ending wars for oil instead of starting them. She reads the paper enough to know where to write the editors. I think that she must not know that not all information has the same value. Some is false and harmful.

The joke going around Election Day was "a black, a Muslim and an illegal immigrant walk into the bar. Bartender says, what can I get you, Mr President?" This is chain e-mailed around the Internet by conservatives with a lot of other untrue fluff. The 45 percent of conservative people have been raised to never question the "Strong Father," there's no duty to investigate if what you are told is true. You just do what he says and everything will be fine. Under the "Nurturing Parent" model of the Democrats, we understand the necessity to question the basis of everything, because life has not been fair for many in the past, and we seek to make life fairer for all. We understand none are free if any are enslaved.

It is a truly different philosophy that generates Michele Bachmann's "black kids were better off under slavery, at least they had two parents." I know this to be false, having read "Bullwhip Days: the Slaves Remember." The entire Bible is myth and should not be the basis for enslaving any particular people or, indeed, for any other political decision making in this country. It is all the more horrific that black Christian ministers would then use the same Bible that finds them the accursed sons of Ham to threaten death to gays and their supporters. The Bible teaches shame, and I reject it entirely.

Democrats know they do not have to be ashamed of their choice of President of the United States, or their income, their sexuality or their opinions. We know that shame is poor long-term motivator; we are telling our children to decide for themselves for whom to vote. They are good people with a duty to select the most intelligent and compassionate person for the job. I invite Ms. O'Connell to read about President Obama's strong leadership over the next four years and investigate the veracity of the next conservative chain e-mail that comes along, rather than believing whatever it says.

Theodore Houk, Lutherville