Reader’s insult missed the mark

To the editor:

I just read the snippet of a letter by Mr. Stephen Erwin headlined “Reader offended by insult” of Tuesday, July 2.

I am wondering where he came up with the, as he referred to it, “personal insults like 'Gufus in the White House.’” That was never expressed in his letter.

I would like to ask Mr. Erwin, what the word gufus means, as I attempted to look it up, and got no result. The nearest I found was a word goofus, which is similar in spelling, and meaning to dufus.

Secondly, I am guessing that Mr. Erwin was attempting to insult the former President of the United States, with his comment: “Our last president will undoubtedly be remembered as the worst African-American president in history.” I must say that that was actually a compliment, since Mr. Obama has been the only African-American President, which, also, makes him the greatest African-American President.

That distinction makes him rated much different that the present occupant of the White House, whom some see as the greatest, and being God-like, while many like to rank him just below Warren G. Harding, as the absolute worst president of the United States. That is a wide differentiation.

Sincerely,

Daniel E. Chase

Portland

Editor’s note: Erwin was referencing Alyssa Rosenberg’s column that ran on the opinion page in the June 29 edition of The Commercial Review. In that column, she referred to “the Goofus in the White House.”