Alan Keyes

* Re “Keyes Remains a Man With a Mission,” May 7:

I am astounded at how effortlessly some misguided souls can be bamboozled, lied to, hoodwinked and mesmerized by the wiles of an unctuous, articulate, well-rehearsed, slick, professional super-con artist: the erstwhile Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes.

His primary and single-minded purpose in continuing his far-right, weird, alien and kooky ideological spiel is to intensify and therefore increase his nationwide speaking fees, commitments that will afford him a luxurious lifestyle and comfortable environs with a six-figure annual income. Are worshipers of Keyes too misled, gullible and blind to overlook such an obvious scam? A century ago Keyes would not have hesitated to sell the gullible shares in the Brooklyn Bridge.

The quote of the great 19th century showman P.T. Barnum that “a sucker is born every minute” still retains a certain idea of truthfulness relative to candidate Keyes and his admirers.

JOHN BURDETTE

Los Angeles