White House Scandal

Re “Liberty, Equality . . . Privacy,” letter by Roselyne Bosch, Commentary, Feb. 2: It has often been said that Europeans are incredulous at the fixation of Americans on this type of scandal. What does it matter if the president has extramarital affairs as long as he is running the country well and everyone is making money?

It may be a peculiarity of America’s need for hero worship or perhaps our lingering puritanism, but I believe that Americans want (or used to want) a leader who inspires them to reach for a higher purpose. Bill Clinton’s only real crime may turn out to be the lowering of our own expectations.

If France (and most of Europe) have lost sight of this, then it is to their detriment. It is not our “hang-up.”

BILL LA VALLEY

Pico Rivera

*

Even if Clinton is “guilty,” he need not lose his job unless we the people who hired him fire him. As of today 72% say, “Keep up the good work!”

DAN LUTHER

Arcadia

*

The one serious concern I have with regard to the scandal is that two blabbermouths of questionable ethics, emotional stability and discretion were given security clearance to work in the Pentagon.

ANN GILMAN

Calimesa

*

My husband and I, blacklisted screenwriters, left the United States in 1949 and spent 30 years in France. When we returned in 1979, we hoped our country had grown up. But it hasn’t. Instead of McCarthyism, there is a wave of puritanical fundamentalism sweeping the nation. Our leaders, our press, have become the sorcerers of Salem. They decry actions which have only been alleged, actions which are the private property of our consciences, not to be bandied about to make money for the media.

The comparison between McCarthyism and today may sound farfetched, but with this kind of national behavior, the unconstitutional censorship of everything we do and say and think is not far off.

Have you noticed that it is always those who try to do something for society who are brought down by a few bigots? It is not surprising that the ridiculous outcry is against an able, hard-working, forward-looking president who has been successfully accomplishing on both the domestic and foreign fronts.

NORMA BARZMAN

Los Angeles

*

She comes from a good background, but has recently developed a very questionable character; she embellishes stories for her own aggrandizement and doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. Yes, the press has become Monica Lewinsky.

MELINDA SQUIBB

Goleta

*

With the present ferocious media frenzy and the precipitous use of body wires, the Constitution could use some additional amending.

BEN BRONWEIN

Newhall