JOE HOHLFELD

CEDAR FALLS - The comic strip, Mallard Fillmore, is totally out of line in its criticism of the U.S. Postal Service. The cartoon published in the Dec. 23 Courier ended with the advice, "Tell the Post Office to jump in the lake and send stuff with a private carrier." This was not the first of Mallard's attack on the USPS.

Mallard Fillmore is never funny, and it attacks American strengths rather than our weaknesses. Our USPS is one of those strengths.

In my retirement, I learned Spanish and traveled extensively in Mexico and Central America. If I want to send mail to friends in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico or wherever, I must use a private carrier as the strip advises, otherwise the probability that my mail will arrive at the intended destination is extremely low. But the cost of the private carrier is many times higher than the postal service. A favorite school I like to attend is in Oaxaca, Mexico, and a favorite charity is the Tarahumarra Children's Hospital, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Both have established offices in the United States where they can send bulk mail by private carriers, to be sent to people like you and me with our USPS because it is more efficient. If you want to increase the USPS efficiency, push for realistic costs for those who circulate junk mail.

The United States Postal Service is the greatest in the world! Why does this comic strip badmouth it in the name of being "conservative?"