To the editor: There are some items which should be stated publicly for the record as we approach Election Day. Among them would be: a. The failure of one candidate to debate the other face to face. It’s a long sad spiral down from Lincoln-Douglas or Kennedy-Nixon. If they can’t respond under duress or think quickly on their feet, then why would I expect them to perform under similar conditions in an elected capacity. b. There is no lack of negative attacks, is there? One has nothing good to say about your opponent, no common areas of agreement, no nods to the good that your opponent might have done or proposes to do. Why would one be inclined to vote for these people when they bring only “No” and minuses to any debate or question that they will be presented with. c. There is no such thing as an outright lie anymore. Now it is the following: We don’t recall. We don’t recollect. We don’t remember. In my sarcasm, (sardonic, but true), my favorite new one is this: “There was a clerical error.” Really? Then why was this unnamed third person ever admonished, reprimanded or suspended? I’ve never read of one, or heard of one, have you? I guess the next new catchphrase will be straight off the television of my youth: “Due to unforseen circumstances.” d. The nomination of questionable characters for public office and the protection of outright criminals in public office. I see the former in the mediocre United States Senate candidates offered by the Democrats in this state and I am aghast at the outright lies and collusion by the Republican party on the national stage in the latter circumstance. If this is the best we can do, then the fall of Imperial Rome may soon be repeated. The only problem is that I and many other honest decent voters will be alive to see it repeated right here. Daniel Webster once rhetorically stated: “How stands the Union, sir?” Sadly, I would have to answer him this way: “Not good, sir, and no light to be seen on the horizon.” Gerard F. Keogh, Jr. West Milford