One of the most important things that a person should have is respect. There is a considerable lack of respect in a large segment of the American public and it is having a terrible effect on many people.

When I was very young, I was taught to respect my parents, the police and everybody else I met at any time. Since that time I have learned that there are people who are not worthy of my respect.

Our prisons have more than 2 million men and women in them plus more than 2 million in county jails, mainly because they had no respect for the law or others.

In the current election, I was shocked by the lack of respect shown to the president. You don't have to like him because he has a different idea of what is good for our country, but you should respect him, at least, for he is the president of all of the people of this great nation of ours.

I have been in some countries where you would go to prison or worse if you disgraced their leader with what I heard from many of President Obama's opposition party members and backers.

He is our president and he should be shown the respect he deserves while he is in that chair in the White House.

God bless America, and God bless President Barack Obama.

John Kronenberger

Belleville