President projects his own faults onto others

Re “Trump, citing no proof, says ‘bad’ Obama tapped phone’’ (Page A1, March 5): It is about time the Globe called out Donald Trump’s apparent modus operandi of projecting onto others his own faults. This is why we have seen him call Hillary Clinton “nasty’’ and a “liar’’; call various media outlets “failing,’’ “biased,’’ “rigged,’’ or “dishonest’’; and, in this latest case, call Barack Obama “a bad [or sick] guy.’’

Trump should look within himself.

Stan Fleischman

Newton Highlands

We shouldn’t fall for these distractions

The president’s distracting lies don’t warrant three or more days of a news cycle. In response to his sleight of hand in tweeting outrageous accusations that former president Barack Obama tapped his phone before the election, we should follow Angela Merkel’s lead. In responding to an inflammatory remark about Germany by Turkey’s president, she said, “One cannot seriously comment on such misplaced statements.’’

Think how much time and energy could be saved if we took that as our stock response and immediately refocused on the true issues.

Patricia Sabbey

Boston