Mailbag: 'Are you freaking serious?'

We got lots of feedback about our first Promise Broken for President Obama — and much of it was from readers who were unhappy with our conclusion. A sampling of the comments:

• "I will have to disagree on your Broken Promise . . . The Lilly Ledbetter bill has been around for months and months and many people commented on it on the old Obama Web site back when it was first defeated when Bush was still in office and it was been discussed in the media and on tons of Web sites. I think that saying that there wasn't time for debate and comments in this particular instance is unfair. It's not like if it was a new bill."

• "Do you really think the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay required a comment period? I think it's more important than a comment period for it. There was plenty of print and electronic coverage of it, and it's the first signing. Cut this man a break. He's not the liar that just moved to Dallas."

• "The important thing is it has been signed. When time for his signature came, this bill had been completely vetted and there wasn't a lawmaker (certainly not Lilly Ledbetter) who was thinking about 'sunlight before signing.' If  PolitiFact doesn't handle gray areas vs. black and white, there is not a lot we can do, if you don't."

• "I have to admit I'm not so upset about his speed in signing this one. It's a NO BRAINER. Thank you for keeping us informed."

• "Are you freaking serious, PolitiFact? Are you airing this petty grievance as a broken promise?
Do you really think the majority of Americans, other than the ones who listen to the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck types would really care?  Perhaps that was your goal regarding this petty 'broken promise' grievance: Appease as many of the 'Regional Party's' constituency and disregard the the 77 percent of Americans who think that the president and his administration are doing what is right for this nation, petty grievances aside ...

"When I first saw your PolitiFact on President Obama's promises, I thought it was a great idea as I wanted to gauge his words against his actions, also. However, if you plan to continue to fill white space with these petty, nonsensical, so-called 'broken promises,'  you have marginalized and watered down your authenticity. Do yourself a favor and save this section for real broken promises for which most Americans will agree. Otherwise, your readers will begin to take you as seriously as, let's see, Sarah Palin."

• "I hope sincerely there are more broken promises to come; I was born into a mildly socialist country in 1940 and will die in one nearly as leftist as France if he keeps only half of his campaign promises."

• "In fact, it is quite ironic that as a women you were not familiar enough with this OVERDUE legislation which took the slow road to Congress, and has been pending for two years, and was not rushed in the least. In addition, please understand that the purpose of this bill was to reverse a judgment, not make a new law, and indeed, it was an emergency for all women in this country! To call this a broken promise based on a technicality of no consequences demonstrates to me that I will be discounting PolitiFact Web site as often as possible, and using this as my example as to why it is not to be taken seriously."

• "I liked your analysis about Obama’s first broken promise. It contained precise details such as the time that the WH finally allowed comments, if I’m not mistaken at 12 p.m. the same day it was signed. But beware of Obama cultists who will falsely accuse you of 'blowing it out of proportion' and other nonsense."