Attacks on Hillary Clinton

Arianna Huffington’s personally vicious and unnecessarily mean-spirited piece on Hillary Clinton (Commentary, Jan. 19) unwittingly speaks to exactly what is wrong with American political discourse in the conservative-dominated late 1990s.

With the agenda and tone set by Huffington’s idol, Newt Gingrich, it is no longer enough to merely state disagreement with one’s political adversaries. It is now commonplace to ridicule, slash and eviscerate them in both spoken and written word.

I freely admit that I do not agree with Mrs. (or Mr.) Huffington on many, if not most, issues. I do not believe, however, that my disagreement grants me free license to publicly mock the quality of their marriage, question the purity of their motives or intentionally humiliate them in print. That Huffington resorts to these tactics speaks volumes more about the author than it does about her subject.

JOHN JB WILSON

Encino

* As I read Huffington’s hate-filled, poison-pen piece on Hillary Clinton, I wondered: What are her credentials for this sort of hatchet job? Is it her wealth? Her arrogance? Her insensitivity? In this age of tabloid journalism, those are all good, solid credentials.

But there’s more! I see that Mrs. Huffington is chairperson of the Center for Effective Compassion. I get it! This type of bitter personal attack can now be called effective compassion. The Republicans have already made “liberal” a dirty word. Now they’re after compassion.

ELLEN GRIFFITH

Los Angeles

* I will use Huffington’s column bashing Hillary Clinton in my university writing classes for years to come. Her sarcastic, meandering piece is a perfect example of bad writing, faulty logic and Manichaean thinking. If I shared her political ideology (and she does have one), I would be embarrassed. Since I don’t, I’m flabbergasted. Why in the world did The Times publish this nonsense?

SUSAN MASON PhD

Associate Professor

Cal State L.A.

* Huffington reminds us of an important point: Within this world of sin, few forms of government are more objectionable than rule by the virtuous (or by those who believe themselves to be so).

She also offers a useful perspective on a feature of feminism: its tendency to raise women of little experience to high position. Such women include Rose Bird and Geraldine Ferraro as well as Hillary Clinton. Through their inexperience, they give themselves freely to their pursuit of virtue, with consequences the rest of us must bear.

T.A. HEPPENHEIMER

Fountain Valley

* Robert Scheer’s anointing of Hillary Clinton yet again (Commentary, Jan. 16) was pretty nauseating. Once again we had to read that she is brilliant. Many of us wish she was brilliant enough to distinguish truth from fiction. Thank you for showing balance with cartoonist Steve Benson’s depiction of the nation’s “first prevaricator.”

JIM WENCK

Mission Viejo

* We were appalled that you gave exposure to the vilifying cartoon of Hillary Clinton by Benson--which was originally published by the Arizona Republic. We understand that you must publish both sides of political issues, but this cartoon went beyond decency on a matter based on rumor. To your credit, you published the excellent article by Scheer just above the cartoon. Keep his columns coming.

CLOVIS and GLADYS SMITH

Monrovia

* Hillary Clinton has endured vitriolic political attacks for the past 3 1/2 years. Regardless of gender, these episodes keep intelligent, well-educated and concerned individuals from participating in the political process and help contribute to voter apathy.

DEBRA S. COVEN

San Clemente

* To all those who are so quick to call the Clintons liars, I have a question: Who are your heroes, George “I was out of the loop” Bush, Ronald “I don’t remember” Reagan, or Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon?

GEORGE BROMBERG

North Hollywood

* President Clinton’s domestic and foreign policies may be correct, but he has no moral authority. He and the first lady’s moral liabilities and polarizing personalities stand in the way of their governance.

Therefore, the best thing for the Democratic Party, the nation and their place in history is for the president to stand down and allow Vice President Al Gore to carry the flag toward the 21st century.

GERALD C. MAXEY

Marina del Rey