Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

It was the night of Sept. 11 when the president was mourning losses with families at Arlington Cemetery and elsewhere, and simultaneously dealing with world events in the disaster in Libya, and the outbreak in Cairo. And Mitt Romney took to the airwaves.

With limited information, he chastised the president for not condemning this immediately. In a room filled with the press, dressed in a business suit and backed up by the American flag, he gave a speech as if he were the president. He preempted events before President Obama had a chance to properly evaluate the situation.

Mr. Romney exhibited the most shocking conduct I have ever seen by taking a major world disaster and politicizing it. He shot from the hip. He is definitely not presidential material. It was pure politics. It is outrageous and he showed a lack of leadership in any form.

The next morning I took great pride in hearing our erudite President Obama and Hillary Clinton speak about the events in the Middle East and the steps that they were taking to deal with them. President Obama is truly the statesman we need to lead this country.

Ann Bromberg, Chilmark