DEAR EDITOR:

Anyone watching the embarrassing excuse for statesmanship the lying felon and his hillbilly sidekick put on as they attempted to publicly bully and extort the president of Ukraine, witnessed the horrendous mistake we made by electing chronic liars interested only in their own power and profits to lead America.

Repeating lies about how much America has given to Ukraine defense was foreshadowed by the Big Lie Trump continues to peddle about his loss in 2016. He exacerbated the shame and sham by demanding gratitude from Zelenskyy who has repeatedly thanked the American people.

Small men with big egos have chosen to side with Putin. Meanwhile, unlike the rest of NATO’s leaders who have gifted their support to Ukraine, they showed more interest in locking in rights to take the mineral wealth of Ukraine as “repayment” for arms already authorized by Congress. Remember the “perfect call” wherein Trump tried extortion and was impeached? He spit the hook that time as a cowering Senate refused even to hear the charges. The same people, including our own Senator, now praise this idiotic performance.

Wrapping up with his usual pretense of personal toughness, Trump claimed the “world respects me.” The world may yet respect the Office of the President of the United States, but the current occupant has made a fool of himself and shamed the rest of us with the old moniker of ugly Americans. Vote, and may God help us to still have one.

Jim Cartwright

Canfield