To the editor:

The Republican vice-presidential nominee Mr. J.D. Vance has been deservedly credited with uncommon academic achievement. He completed his undergraduate studies in a shorter period than most, and yet managed to receive his degree summa cum laude, the highest accolade possible. He then attended the selective and prestigious Yale Law School, and followed this by becoming the author of a bestselling book. This is a singular record of accomplishment.

One might have thought that someone of this academic and intellectual caliber would find Mr. Donald Trump repulsive. And in fact, that is what Mr. Vance did not so long ago. He called him ”The American Hitler” and described him in a well-known word so vulgar that I am prevented from repeating it here.

His conversion to Mr. Trump is therefore more than remarkable, near miraculous; it is baffling to the point of being at least questionable, or at worst entirely suspect. When he spoke disparagingly of Mr. Trump as the American Hitler, we can presume that he himself disapproved of Hitler and his fascist ideology. His newfound embrace of Mr. Trump then can only be because Mr. Vance is now satisfied that Mr. Trump has abandoned and renounced fascism with its supremacist, racist cruelties; its doctrine of rule by dominance and oppression; its utter disregard for the rule of law; and its corresponding recourse to violence in pursuit of power!

The only other possible conclusion is that Mr. Vance has somehow been enlightened or persuaded that these invidious ideas, which he so strongly castigated in castigating Mr. Trump, are in fact correct, and he now subscribes to them!

Since Mr. Trump has given no evidence of having done the former, it is quite legitimate to speculate that Mr. Vance has done the latter! In the interest of the public, someone should question the two of them about this — preferably every day!

Joseph R. Noone

Lynn