Rose Bird’s Interview

Your coverage of Bird’s recent media interviews provided fascinating insight into our chief justice’s thought process. It is obvious that Bird simply does not understand the reasons for voter concern over her performance.

It is silly to believe that the primary thrust of Bird’s opposition comes from long columns of right-wing ideologues, sexists, and sundry bigots marching in knee-jerk harmony to the beat of Drum Major Ed Meese’s fight song, “Bye-Bye Birdie.”

Bird’s voting record on tax-relief, busing and death penalty initiatives has revealed a well developed anti-initiative bias, that if allowed to continue, could place the California voter in the same environmental predicament as the California Condor, that of an endangered species.

Bird has badly misjudged both the California voter and her duties. Californians are an articulate voting population with more than enough smarts to know the differences between judicial independence and judicial tyranny. The same applies to knowing the differences between judicial momentum and judicial inertia.

It is quite likely that a post-mortem of Bird’s voter rejection one year from now will reveal that her detractors were primarily from the lawn-mower segment of California, and that these voters really didn’t need any help from the likes of Ed Meese, Jerry Falwell or some Grand Dragon of Reaction to put their judicial house in order.

MICHAEL A. SCOTT

Glendora