President Clinton and His Critics

In response to “When Nothing Goes Right: Clinton Fights Off Critics,” by Susan Estrich, Opinion, May 16:

Many of the political reporters and pundits expounding on “how Clinton is doing” create for me the image of a school of sharks in a frenzy to get a bite of self-sustaining nourishment out of the President’s hide. But to me they are knocking their snouts against the glass walls of a tank which encloses only their own little myopic world. Watching this “show” can be a little distracting at times, but my aspirations for the country are sustained by my own perception of a largely unperturbed President making admittedly unspectacular but nevertheless measured progress on his well-charted course.

SIMON BARNHART

Santa Barbara

* Dying dreams often become cankered in the hearts they have disenchanted. The most recent and disappointing cause of disenchantment in many Americans is the apostasy of President Clinton.

As I listened to him ask the American people to trust him, I thought his words illustrated a very special kind of irony. Looking back on human history and its miseries we can say that new tyrants inevitably end up raising the level of public cynicism by introducing new blends of hypocrisy and higher taxes.

If many are now disappointed in him it is, I believe, because he has been untrue, not only to the dream he offered them, but to himself.

RICHARD NEY

Pasadena

* After 12 years of Republican presidents, it seems it is really tough for the press to deal with a President who knows more than they do. I watch Clinton’s press conferences on C-Span. I see a man who answers every question fully, courteously, without hesitation. He knows where he stands on each and every issue. Then I hear on CNN or read in the newspaper that the President is defensive or “waffling.”

C’mon guys, if you aren’t smart enough to keep up with this genius, get another job.

DIANA ROTH

Los Angeles

* A seemingly growing perception of President Clinton is apt to this quotation by Robert Bernstein: “Only intuition can protect you from the most dangerous individual of all, the articulate incompetent.”

JOHN WATSON

Covina

* The battle in Washington over Clinton’s budget proposals seems now to have become an ideological fight between two factions: those who believe that government is the cause of our economic woes, and those who maintain that government is the solution. Neither is correct; taken to its logical extreme, each ideal is ludicrous. The solution lies in constructing a complementary and cooperative relationship between the public and private sectors, as exists in Japan.

Seen in this light, Clinton’s willingness to compromise with the Republicans is potentially an important advantage. But Sen. Bob Dole and his supporters must keep the same larger picture in focus. Another term of legislative gridlock will only ensure that America will continue to be left behind.

TODD E. GRUPE

Los Angeles