Thank you for a superbly researched and well-written article on the DeI partment of Energy ["The 5th Risk," by Michael Lewis, September]. I am sharing it far and wide. Nothing else I have read so succinctly positions the dangers we have incurred by allowing Trump to assume the presidency and install his mob of ideologically driven incompetents. Brimming with hubris and contempt, their thinking is anchored in ignorance and self-deceit. Please consider researching and writing a similar article on the devolution of the Department of Education—where the consequences also promise a long-term decline from which it will be difficult to recover.

MARKUS ZIMMER Sandy, Utah

Michael Lewis highlights the effects of the current administration's inexperience, ineptitude, and differing philosophies. It is alarming that, as the article explains, even though civil servants are reportedly hard to dismiss, almost no one steps up and points a finger at a real person (other than at Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance) when it seems that the significant resources managed by the D.O.E. are being mishandled. And are we really to believe that hydraulic fracturing was the fruit of D.O.E. research 20 years ago? I believe hydraulic fracturing is generally said to have been tried in some form as far back as the late 1940s. The government did start the Eastern Gas Shales Project in 1976, and the use of hydraulic fracturing in shale was the beginning of the real oil-field revolution. But I think that the D.O.E.'s taking credit for it is akin to A1 Gore's taking credit for inventing the Internet.

WILLIAM D. PIERCE

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Never have I been more horrified or fascinated. How appropriate that the final page of Michael Lewis's article about the current state of the Department of Energy is opposite the Proust Questionnaire with Ricky Gervais, in which he says his favorite hero of fiction is Old Testament God: "Why the fuck did I give these morons free will?"

DEBORAH YOUNG GROVES Kitchener, Ontario

THE ILLUSTRATORS

loved Cullen Murphy's piece about his father, John Cullen Murphy, and the cartoonist community of Fairfield County ["Cartoon County, U.S.A.," September]. It seems a charmed existence with unique personalities whose work touched millions of lives. A bygone era some of us grew up in. With those highly enviable sports-night dinners, the dead-on "captioning" of the arrival of the Arbitrage in Greenwich Harbor, and that oh-so-touching depiction of life's terminus (and my memory as well), walking backward up the aisle as the credits roll, not wanting it to end, always to be remembered with gratitude and fondness. An evocative and informative piece of writing.

TERRY NOBLEVancouver, British Columbia

I wanted to reach out to say "Bravo!" on your wonderful, thoughtful piece on my father, the illustrator Jim McMullan ["Performance Artist," by Mark Rozzo, December]. You completely captured him in all his glory and the particular spirit of his work. I am so grateful to you for this tribute to him. It means so much to me and to my family, and I know my father quite enjoyed it himself (in his low-key way, of course).

LEIGH MCMULLAN ABRAMSONNew York, New York

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More from the V.F. MAILBAG

"What possesses a man (not even considering the litany of revelations of sexual impropriety currently rocking Hollywood) to yank up his girlfriend's dress to expose her great asset?" We're guessing that David Lee, of Toronto, is referring to Bethany McLean's December story, with the cover line "J-Rod! Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez on Love, Beauty, and Redemption." Wendy Pagan, of Sarasota, Florida, notes that "featuring a half-clad A-Rod in a jockstrap facing the fully clothed J.Lo would have been far more respectable." Ms. Pagan is not alone in considering the merits of featuring A-Rod's jockstrap. Reader Troy Gilpatrick asks, "How about this: Jennifer Lopez is sitting on the counter. Alex Rodriguez is wearing a shirt and leaning into her; she is lifting the hem of the shirt, revealing a jockstrap, no?"

That isn't the only shame cast upon our house with regard to our representation of bodies in the December issue. "I did not bother reading this month's column by James Wolcott, 'The Hefner Delusion,' because of the picture of Trump dressed as a Playboy Bunny. You need to have respect for the presidency even if you did not vote for him," says Carol Barnshaw, of Wilmington, North Carolina. "The latest drawing of Trump as a Playboy Bunny is sickening," proclaims Cathy N., of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Yes, we thought so too, but that was sort of the point.

"NEVER AGAIN will I read another article from Vanity Fair," says Emily Lobert Malone, who identified herself as having been a subscriber for numerous years. "I'm sure you don't give a rat's ass. But us deplorable people can make a huge difference. I challenge you to put this into your magazine." As a parting gift, Ms. Malone, challenge accepted.