Editor:

Abraham Lincoln, in 1846, wrote to a fact-challenged newspaper: "I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood."

Recently, this paper has been spreading plenty of easily proven falsehoods without knowing if they are true.

William Wallace of Pinedale used this paper to claim that Martha Raddatz of ABC News followed John McCain to Iraq, polled soldiers of presidential support, and then covered up how many soldiers there supported McCain.

This story is a lie; both Maj. Gen. Buckman (to whom the story is attributed) and Martha Raddatz both deny the account. This lie is regurgitated from one of those fact-free right-wing e-mails that bounces around the Internet from one unscrupulous extremist to another.

Bill Ackerley of Wyarno alleged in this paper that Obama will raise our taxes four times what they are now (and seriously, the only flag pins I can find are made in China, does Ackerley really want to imply that not wearing a piece of Chinese pot metal is unpatriotic? May I conclude he is a Communist?).

With a minimal amount of research (e.g., Google plus one minute) Ackerley would learn that Obama's tax plan cuts taxes for Americans making less than $250,000.

However, even with no research, merely a fourth grade grasp of math, it is easy prove Ackerley is lying. For Americans making more than $32,550, the tax rates range from 28 percent to 35 percent. Multiply those by four times and you get numbers more than 100 percent. It is inconceivable to be taxed for more than one earns, except in Ackerley's mind and this math challenged letters department.

I care about this paper. As a child it taught me reading comprehension; I delivered it through blizzards and windstorms, and though I don't currently live in Wyoming I still try to read it every day. It saddens me to see it turn into a smear rag. Clean up the nonsense. Do it for Honest Abe.

PATRICK HUGHES II, Prescott, Ariz.