It is obvious that Thomas Shields, Leonard Hoy and Mary Jane Newell have extreme political views; they describe horrific things that Democrats supposedly do that are never substantiated. Also, what they call Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) is well known to be based on Republican ideas.

I respect and honor many Republican politicians, including Margaret Chase Smith, Bill Cohen, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. They served Maine and the nation extremely well, as have Edmund Muskie, George Mitchell, Mike Michaud, Chellie Pingree, etc.

My parents were staunch Republicans but if they considered a Democrat to be a better candidate, they would vote for him.

I fear that society is detrimentally divided by the prolific and often extremely prejudicial views on TV and radio.

I am concerned about the direction that Republicans in Washington wish to lead the country:

• Doing away with Planned Parenthood  — of all the commitments that humans make, becoming a parent tops the list as needing planning. It is also the organization that screens thousands of people for cancer yearly. That is just in Maine.

• Regarding the pipeline across America and global warming, I think Republicans have blinders on. As I write this letter, the sky is clear — no clouds — and the sky should be blue. But it isn’t blue like it was 50-70 years ago.

What I see instead of the blue skies that I remember is a faded light-blue because of the tons of carbon that is pumped into the atmosphere.

Nancy Willard, Woodstock