To the editor:

Here in America our hearts have been set on vengeance for five months. It seems to me that we have overlooked something important. On the evening of Sept. 11, we might have expected the president to go on national TV and say something like this:

“Fellow Americans, we have failed you. This morning’s tragedy should not have happened. This afternoon I fired the director of the FBI and CIA. They did not do their job. I have fired the adviser for National Security. Our security was breached and 3,000 people were burned alive. Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense, is history. Our defense was nonexistent.

“The buck does not stop there. As your president I have not done my duty and I cannot expect your trust in the future. As of midnight tonight Mr. Cheney and I are resigning. We will hand over the reins of government to Mr. Gore and Mr. Lieberman. May God guide them. May God forgive us, as I beg you to forgive us. Thank you, goodbye and good night.”

Instead, these people all think they’re heroes. Hey, am I missing something here? It’s like the emperor’s new clothes.

Pete Carleton,

Lawrence