I, and many other readers of the Sunday Opinion page, also regret that a writer brought up an inapt and insulting comparison of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un of North Korea and our President Barack Obama.

First, Kim Jong Un was appointed by a secretive process within a hybrid government combining features of a hereditary dictatorship and an authoritarian communist state, whereas Barack Obama was duly elected by a majority of American voters pursuant to the laws of our constitutional federal Republic.

Second, although the writer seeks to make much of the asserted lack of military experience of both men, our constitution does not require military experience and the only president in recent history with significant command experience was Eisenhower. Moreover, Obama appears to be handling his responsibilities as Commander in Chief competently. He brought an end to the war in Iraq, he is winding down the war in Afghanistan, he is aggressively pursuing a drone war against terrorism, and he got rid of Osama bin Ladin.

Finally, given the economic disaster he inherited from the Bush administration, and the intransigent opposition by Republicans in Congress to virtually every proposal he has made, he has accomplished a lot. The stock market is near record levels, we still have a domestic auto industry, and we have had more than 30 straight months of private sector job growth.

Charles Kocher

Ferndale