‘Clinton’s Visceral Opposition’

The Times’ teary-eyed article (“Clinton’s Visceral Opposition,” July 5) about big, bad Republicans and their alleged abuse of the President and Mrs. Clinton breaks my heart. For almost 50 years liberal Democrats in and out of the media have indulged in nonstop, unfounded, mindless vilification of the late Richard Nixon. Oh, poor, poor Bill and Hillary! Boo hoo hoo . . .

STEPHEN McKINLEY MITCHELL

Sherman Oaks

* What has happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? And how many courageous, thoughtful steps to improve the lives of U.S. citizens need be taken before unproved allegations can be appropriately set on the back burner?

Fortunately for us, the Clintons have grown in stature in the last two years, which reflects their integrity, their intelligence and their genuine compassion for “We the people.” Their value to our country is immense!

LOIS DOUGLASS

Los Angeles

* A word of caution from a loyal, mainstream Democrat to all loyal, mainstream Republicans. Remember what happened to the Democrats in the ‘60s? The Democratic Party began pandering to a small group of left-wing extremists and today, the word “liberal” is used as a derogatory and insulting term in most of the U.S.

The Republican Party is now repeating the same tragic mistake the Democrats made. You are pandering to a small group of right-wing zealots and extremists like Operation Rescue, Jerry Falwell, the National Rifle Assn., Pat Robertson, Floyd Brown, etc. Consider this: If the Republican and Democratic parties reversed their positions on just abortion rights, gun control and school prayer where would the extremists go?

These zealots have their own agenda for the U.S. and it is not the same agenda as most loyal, mainstream Americans have.

DON ELMORE

Huntington Beach

* Re Susan Estrich’s article on attack videos, Opinion, July 3: She’s absolutely correct.

“It sucks you in and it suckers you in.” “Visual images have power.” “Television makes it easy to sell lies . . . you forget it’s a station with no standards and practices, no code of ethics.” Funny, I had the impression she was referring to how Bill Clinton got elected.

GREG S. DONAHUE

Rancho Cucamonga

* Let us not forget attack radio. As a symbol for America in the late 20th Century Rush Limbaugh is sadly very appropriate. He is the embodiment of a country that is destroying itself by not valuing that which could save it from its own morbid obesity. We cannot cure our national obesity without the surgeons and healers that are in the very groups we look to exclude and blame for our own lack of industry. Perhaps that is really what scares Rush and his listeners most--their destiny is in the hands of those they have abused. It is in the hands of women, blacks, Latinos and gays. If we are not careful we will go the way of his unloved body--eating, drinking and hating ourselves to death.

PHYLLIS LARKIN

Irvine

* A century ago, people used to say that “God is an Englishman.” Now we know that was untrue. He is an American. And as an American, he is also a member of the Republican Party with a definite political agenda. He is in favor of a strong defense and opposed to welfare; he favors the death penalty, three strikes and you’re out, more prisons and mandatory sentencing, but is against abortion, the minimum wage, health reform and gun control. He favors limiting immigration and wishes to declare English the nation’s official language. (Everybody knows that except for a few odd words in Hebrew, God speaks nothing but the most dignified English.)

God definitely is in favor of term limits and a balanced budget amendment, wants the line item veto, advocates school vouchers, disapproves of unions, the ACLU and the Sierra Club. Most certainly, God is in favor of free trade, permanent replacements of strikers, and a lowering of the capital gains tax. God distrusts the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He certainly despises liberals, gays, tree-huggers, the spotted owl, the Brady Bill, the National Organization for Women, the Voting Rights Act, Democrats in general and Bill and Hillary Clinton in particular. Do I have to mention that God only speaks through his new apostles Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh?

ROBERT A. FRUGE

Toluca Lake

* I used to think the political party out of office was the “loyal opposition.”

But how times have changed! The lack of political leadership now has a talk show host (Rush Limbaugh) as the “real” opposing political opposition.

ROBERT ARONOFF

South Pasadena