Editorial Cartoons By Bob Gorrell

Post Office

Adams disliked dissent just like our present day leaders

  I think Doug French is wrong about John Adams [“Author Equally as Brilliant as his Subject,” September]. He was a monarchist at heart, responsible for the Alien and Sedition Acts.
  “Today, men of Adams’ caliber don’t pursue politics, leaving the White House to dunces controlled by conniving handlers.”
  Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is of Adams’ caliber. And his heart is in the same place as well. The PATRIOT Act is the equivalent of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
  Adams didn’t like dissent one whit more than our present day thugs. They are his spiritual heirs.

John Francis Lee
Thailand


Thanks for the piece on John Adams

  At the grand age of 65, I find myself making the rounds, so to speak, of the Founding Fathers.  I find them to be much as I perceived Bridge on the River Kwai when it first came out — the movie didn’t appeal to me as a kid and I know now I never would have understood it. Ditto, with these marvelous men.
  Thank you for your article and I shall now go off and study some more about Mr. John Adams [“Author Equally as Brilliant as his Subject,” September]. Truthfully, the dynamic between and among these esteemed gentlemen we call our Founding Fathers has become the most intriguing part of all. I look forward to learning more and more.

Melanie K. Wooten
University Park, Iowa


The smart don’t run for government; they avoid it

  Thanks for the insight on John Adams. Political roots are dead in America today.
  “Today, men of Adams’ caliber don’t pursue politics, leaving the White House to dunces controlled by conniving handlers.”
  This echoes my own conclusion that anyone “smart enough” to run the government wisely is also wise enough to not want to be in government at all.

Katcha Sanderson