I used to believe in the Peter Principle i.e. 'That people get promoted to the level of their inefficiency and inadequacy”. I thought Gerry Brownlee and Nick Smith were proof of this principle. But Gerry Brownlee continues to be promoted far beyond his effective capabilities, making a mockery of this principle.

Making this man foreign minister gives new urgency to our national anthem 'God Defend New Zealand”. However our foreign policy of late can be summed up simply as 'ditto”. This applies to whatever the USA decides to do, we will go along with it.

Our once proud nation that thought for itself and did what it thought right, has succumbed to the all, the great American myths: Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Gulf of Tonkin, WMD in Iraq, 9/11, gas attacks in Syria, Iranian nuclear weapons, etc. We will follow their lead wherever it takes us. After all they are the champions of democracy - witness the fiasco of their last elections.

P Dolden, Papamoa.