To the editor:

Scott Rothschild’s lead on the presidential debate story was right on target. Mitt Romney’s threat to shut down PBS resounded across the nation as the clarion blare of the Tea Party’s trumpet “We’re going to take the country BACK!” The devil is in the details. When all the honk and bluster of the campaign end, there will be a president in the White House who wants to lead the country forward, or one who threatens to take the nation BACK.

Friday’s debate between congressional candidates Jenkins and Schlingensiepen turned on Romney’s PBS statement. That’s because Romney’s PBS comment is a an unvarnished threat about where the right wing of the GOP intends to take the nation. There are no ifs, ands or buts. Congresswoman Jenkins reiterated that fact.

So Scott Rothschild got the lead right. Romney’s wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark. It was a naked statement of intention. Everyone should be guided by that fact.