No one who’s read an online comments section can be surprised to hear about the vile messages directed at Maura Healey and John Rosenthal, and probably at Yvonne Abraham, too, by haters who lurk behind anonymity (“A nasty pushback,’’ Metro, July 31). As the old New Yorker cartoon says: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.’’ Maybe not, but they can see clearly that you’re a bully and a coward.

Ellen Steinbaum

Boston