GOP Bashing of Hillary Clinton

Ellen Goodman is writing, as we boomers used to say, real paranoid stuff (“Hitting on Hillary Is a Hate Crime,” Commentary, Aug. 21). Criticizing Hillary Clinton’s public positions is hate speech? Give me a break. Hillary is a smart, independent woman with a mind of her own and a paper trail.

You can’t have it both ways; either Hillary Clinton needs protection, poor dear, or she and her fellow liberals can defend what she and they hold. But let’s not shed any tears, or file a lawsuit, even in ill-tempered jest.

MAUREEN C. COUGHLIN

Santa Paula