Poverty, the Humane Society, retirees and more in today’s letters to the editor.

Pick of the day: The country lost this one

A few things need to be said about the Nov. 6 presidential election, things that I believe with all my heart.

The real loser was not Gov. Mitt Romney or the Republican Party. It was our country and the American people. We had a chance to elect a president who would take us back to an opportunity society and away from the dependency society our current president promotes.

We turned away a brilliant mind with a proven record in a time of need in favor of a former community organizer who was thrust into office in 2008 with no experience or qualifications for the office to which he was elected. We turned away one who would try to work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, despite Reid’s having already drawn a partisan line in the sand.

If you heard Romney’s concession speech, you heard that he was most concerned that he disappointed those of us who supported him; that he didn’t live up to our expectations. His speech was not fraught with “I” or “me” or “my,” unlike the speeches of the one re-elected.

I’m afraid our country really blew it this year. I hope not. We’ll see.

MARILYN OSBORNE-BACH

HUDDLESTON