Last Saturday’s Alpena News (March 1) reported a pivotal moment in geopolitics, not on the front page, but rather past the notice about changes in the billing cycle for water services, past the list of winning lottery numbers, past the “Cheers and Jeers” section, past the editorials, stock market numbers and a story about impending tariff threats, past the weather forecast for the upcoming week, past the sports page, a review of Oscar nominations and the TV viewing lineup, past the crossword puzzle and horoscopes (almost there), past the “Dear Annie” advice column, and the classified ads. It appeared on page 7 in section B. A front-page headline story around the world was buried deep in section B of the Alpena News.

The story that should have garnered front-page coverage, as it did worldwide, was the Friday massacre that took place in the Oval Office. The Executive Branch of our government staged an embarrassing spectacle of voicing support for murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin, while bullying and denigrating the courageous leader of besieged Ukraine, President Zelenskyy. As with all bullies, our Executive Branch preyed on what they felt were vulnerabilities they could exploit but instead looked weak and pathetic.

This tawdry scene evidenced a turning point to the world order. The United States is no longer the leader of the free world and cannot be counted on to defend democracy as our Executive Branch is parting ways with 80-year-old European alliances to side with a dictator. What a disgraceful and shockingly shameful display of degradation in full display of the entire world.

In our newspaper, if you persevered, you would have found this story deep in 7B, apparently less important than all the other features. To the Alpena News, and in the words of Logan Roy in Succession, “You are not serious people.”

DIANE O’CONNOR,

Alpena