Newspaper: Sorry for letter backing Obama's execution

A small newspaper in Pennsylvania is apologizing for a particularly offensive letter to the editor -- one that essentially called for President Obama's execution.

"We did something we shouldn't have and the readers who called us on it deserve accountability," says an editorial in the Sunbury (Pa.) Daily Item.

The letter published earlier in the week criticized the Obama administration for the Islamic State's capture of a major city in Iraq.

"To the families of those fallen heros (sic) whose blood lies on the sands of Iraq; don't you think it might be time to rise up against an administration who has adequately demonstrated their gross incompetence?" the letter read. "I think the appropriate, and politically correct, term is regime change. Forgive me for being blunt, but throughout history this has previously been accompanied by execution by guillotine, firing squad, public hanging."

In their apology, the editors said "no bells went off" when an employee read the letter before placing it on the editorial page, and "there is no excuse" for the lapse.

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"Our readers and critics have reacted in force, as they should have," the editorial said. "We accept their judgment and embrace the calls for heightened awareness and a higher standard for civil discourse."