DEAR EDITOR:

If you want to get a bracing dose of right-wingers’ utter lack of thoughtfulness and intelligence, you can always gather a few of their choice public statements or tweets. But if you’d like a simple and easily accessible sampling in digest form, you could check out some editorial cartoons published in The Vindicator.

Let’s be clear that I recognize and accept that a variety of political points of view should be represented in the newspaper’s pages. But really, the likes of Gary Varvel and Mike Luckovich ought to be ashamed to ever put pen to paper.

Luckovich’s latest is a real howler. He depicts former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stating “President Trump told me he wants missiles launched into Mexico and U.S. protestors shot.” A second frame shows Esper’s publishers shouting “Cha-ching!”

For most people on the right, this will be all they need. They probably are relieved from the responsibility of asking any further questions, such as:

Is it credible to believe that Trump is capable of making the statements Esper attributes to him? Is it credible to believe that Esper (whatever you may think of his ultra-conservative political views) would gladly throw away his entire distinguished career in the military, government and private business by putting words in Trump’s mouth that he never spoke — in other words, blatantly lying just for the sake of selling a few books?

Luckovich’s cartoon is entirely typical of right-wing tactics: just throw up a smoke screen to render the often uncomfortable truth of a matter immaterial. I believe truth is the very last thing they’re interested in.

MICHAEL GREENFIELD

Youngstown