In Jim Fossel’s Sept. 3 Maine Sunday Telegram column on Hurricane Harvey, he so casually drops in a lie about current politics that you might not even notice it.
He mentions President Trump’s mid-hurricane pardon of one-time Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and then proceeds to explain: “He was prosecuted for contempt of court after he disregarded court orders to halt his crackdown on illegal immigration.”
In fact, the case and prosecution were for racial profiling, not for arresting illegal immigrants. Arpaio was ordered by the court to stop racial profiling by his department, and when he refused, he was found in contempt of court.
This insidious use of lies as if they were facts should not be tolerated in journalism, even if it is just a politically manipulative opinion piece.
Robin Elliott
South Portland
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