Here are some of the images John Day evoked about Joe Brennan in his column Jan. 30 (both directly and through attributed and anonymous sources): knife fighter, hardball player, surrounded by thugs who sucker-punch opponents, the most odious politician since Richard Nixon, snooker, alcoholic, recluse, out-of-touch with reality.

Are there any readers of this newspaper who have ever met Joe Brennan — whether Republican or Democrat or Independent, liberal or conservative, friend or foe — who can find even a scintilla of truth in such images?

John Day has a history of irresponsibility. Six years ago, when I was working on Brennan’s gubernatorial campaign, I recall Day accepting slanderous material from the McKernan campaign that several other Maine newspapers had refused, then putting it into his column without ever acknowledging the source.

Newspaper writers have freedom by virtue of the First Amendment. But they also have responsibility by virtue of their profession’s ethical standards and the public trust. By the latter test, John Day’s name-calling is unworthy of a fine newspaper like the Bangor Daily News. Frank O’Hara Hallowell