Trump - A tyrant or just tardy in firing Comey?

We shouldn't be surprised that President Trump responded to critics of his firing of FBI Director James Comey with taunts of "shedding crocodile tears" ("Trump fires FBI's Comey," Wednesday). To someone like Trump, for whom all decisions and policies are based on personal feelings and emotional states rather than law or decency, criticism of him must flow from the same motivations. Those of us who are outraged by Comey's firing are not harboring any sudden sympathy for him; we are fearful of an administration desperate to block potentially harmful investigations. This is the act of a tyrant, not a president.

|James Davis, Conshohocken

The start of Watergate Version 2.0. Follow the money.

|Sam Goldwasser, Bala Cynwyd, sam@seas.upenn.edu

Among his inadequacies, President Trump has shown again that he is an expert in one skill - the ability to draw attention away from the inadequacy of the day. One day after congressional hearings clearly established his failure to dismiss national security adviser Michael Flynn for months after receiving warnings from President Barack Obama and for weeks after warnings from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey for mishandling the Hillary Clinton email investigation last summer.

|Dale Scannell, Flourtown

The Democrats' hypocrisy never ceases to amaze. In November, they were calling for FBI Director James Comey's head, saying he had cost Hillary Clinton the election - a claim she repeated only days ago. Now that President Trump has fired Comey, they say Trump is acting like President Richard M. Nixon in Watergate or a third-world dictator. The only thing Trump did wrong was wait three months. Comey precipitated his downfall in July, when he said he would recommend against indicting Clinton, forgetting he was as an investigator, not a prosecutor.

|Nick O'Dell, Phoenixville, nickodell16@yahoo.com

President Trump was photographed laughing it up in the White House with the Russian foreign minister and the ambassador the day after he fired the man who was charged with investigating his campaign's ties with Russia ("The pressure builds," Thursday). If that doesn't send chills down your spine, then Trump was right when he said that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and his base wouldn't care.

This is a major threat to the checks and balances of our government; we needed a special prosecutor yesterday.

|Bill Maginnis, North Wales

I am retired, 62 years old, and an independent. How does a health-care plan that will increase the number of uninsured by 24 million, potentially alienate those with preexisting conditions, raise the premiums of those who are older than 61, and decrease the taxes of the wealthy serve the greater good of this country ("What prognosis?" May 5)?

The plan that U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R., N.J.) voted for would not pass the Jimmy Kimmel test. I am dumbfounded that a man who has experienced such pain from the illness and death of a daughter, and the resulting medical costs, would care so little about the have-nots.

|John S. Rigby Jr., Poway, Calif.

To understand why citizens are apathetic, if not hostile, to their government, look at the bid by former State Sen. Robert Mellow to secure a $240,000-a-year pension for life - after he was convicted and served time in prison on federal charges of corruption and conspiracy ("Don't give felon pension," Tuesday).

The pension is almost three times the starting salary for a member of the General Assembly, causing citizens to wonder how even an honest person could amass such a fortune as a "public servant."

Mellow contends that the federal crimes for which he was convicted do not disqualify him from receiving a state pension. If he succeeds in his bid to continue feeding at the public trough based on a technicality, we will see once again that crime pays.

|Oren M. Spiegler, Upper St. Clair, Pa.

During National Nurses Week, the Department of Veterans Affairs - the nation's largest single employer of nurses - joins the American Nurses Association in honoring those professionals dedicated to saving lives and maintaining the health of millions of individuals. As associate director of patient care services at the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, I would like to recognize our outstanding nursing staff, which provides quality patient care to our honored veterans.

|Nancy Schmid, Coatesville