This is in response to Mary Jane Newell’s letter, “Bottom line: Elect Republicans” (Aug. 16).

Through crocodile tears, Newell laments the slings and arrows suffered by insults foisted upon her — such as bigot, nationalist, white supremacist, racist, fascist, generally-not-nice-person. And she is correct to call them out as ludicrous.

Those words carry serious consequences and those people choosing to assign Newell the accusation should carefully back up their claims with supporting evidence. In doing so, the word changes from a feckless insult to exposing someone with a dark heart bent on hate and anger toward their neighbor.

So, in the interest of providing supporting evidence, I would like to extract some insults Newell has foisted upon those (mostly Democrats) with whom she disagrees. Those words can be found in her letters to the editor, published in the Sun Journal since 2017: Offensive, loser, hypocrite, snowflake, socialist, communist, hateful — and my personal favorite — shameful.

As a Democrat, I am no more a hateful, shame-faced, snowflake-loser than she is a racist. But somehow the mudslinging continues. Monthly, no less.

I wish those kinds of letters to the editor would stop. It distracts from the real conversations the community should be having regarding the very issues both sides disable with their noxious war of words.

Therefore, I agree with Newell, for once and likely only once — this continuous war of words is ludicrous.

Joseph Keelan, West Gardiner