The Sun Journal is far and away my favorite Maine newspaper. I’ve found the stories and editorial commentary balanced, fair, informative and top notch in many respects. Of course, human nature being what it is, I’ve never written to mention my satisfaction.

I do want the editors to know, however, how disappointed I was to see on the front page of the May 2 paper a picture of our nation’s secretary of defense, a man who personally rushed to assist injured people at his own peril during the attacks of Sept. 11 and who holds one of the highest offices in the land during a time of war, depicted as a chimpanzee.

No matter what political view one holds, I firmly believe men and women who serve this nation honorably deserve more respect than that. I could imagine seeing this type of image on Al-Aribiya or as an effigy in the streets of Baghdad, but never on the front page of a newspaper that touts the values of integrity and fair play.

Bette Harmon, Gray