I didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry when I read that the House passed a “teaching about communism” bill, sponsored by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida (“How Maine’s members of Congress voted week,” Dec. 15).

Her reason is that “American youth have been brainwashed by the media and academia for the past 30 years into believing that communism is good.” Really? This is from a member of a political party that is hell-bent on removing any books that accurately present an “uncomfortable” (to some) account of America’s history of slavery, genocide (Native Americans), Japanese internment, etc. Not to mention any reference to gender or sexual preference issues. There is also the attempted elimination of civics and American history in public schools.

In the normal curriculum of teaching world history or comparative political systems, communism’s terrible flaws and failures will be obvious. Students at a junior or senior high level are more than capable of evaluating the differences.

Presenting propaganda and dogma as “history” is not the answer to intellectual honesty. We should not try to hide or distort our history. We should learn from it and try to do better.

I’m glad that Congresswoman Pingree missed the vote.

Ken MacLean
Scarborough