To the editor:

I am sending this letter in regards to the inclusion in your Jan. 18 edition of a political cartoon that seems to be at odds with the newspaper’s stated mission: “To serve our community with integrity.”

The cartoon pictured a donkey with a soiled diaper sitting in a puddle and crying like a baby while a well-dressed couple in the background states, “He’s not going to the inauguration because Trump needs to grow up.”

The inclusion of such a cartoon implies the Suffolk News-Herald is insensitive to its readers, ignorant of facts or both.

The reason a good share of the people opted out of the inauguration was because President Trump had just insulted an honored civil rights icon by making up lies about him and his constituents.

A number of people, including my wife and myself, took offense to such a callous, spiteful, untrue attack, because it raised the specter of times we thought we had left behind us. We applauded those who stayed away from the inauguration.

Your inclusion of such a cartoon implies the newspaper is supportive of the hateful remark made by Trump.

While the subject matter of the cartoon raises questions about the integrity of the Suffolk News-Herald, the depiction of the donkey sitting in a soiled diaper raises questions about the morality of the newspaper.

To what benefit does such a crude and vulgar attempt at humor add to the cartoon? Surely honorable people are able to communicate without interjecting vulgarity and poor taste into the conversation.

I believe the Suffolk News-Herald owes an apology to those readers who are disappointed by an apparent downward trend in the quality of its contents.

Greg Hoffer

Suffolk