Mason Unplugged a Dreadful Chapter of World History

For a comedian who bases much of his act, both on stage and on his cable show, on the principle that he knows more about everything than anybody else, Jackie Mason’s comment was certainly as astounding as it was repulsive (“Unplugged, Unstoppable,” by Paul Brownfield, June 20).

Mason begins with the theory that President Clinton was involved in the death of Vince Foster--directly involved. Next he offers that the killing of one person is not much different from the killing of a million. And not just any old million but Hitler’s millions.

Has Mason no knowledge of the Holocaust? About how men, women and children were taken from their homes and marched and otherwise transported to death camps in a systematic manner? He really should have a conversation with his rabbi or visit a Holocaust museum. Or perhaps learn that political disagreement is a basic American tenet and that one can argue a case without accusing the other of equivalence with one of history’s most dreadful events and instigators.

SAUL DAVIS

Studio City

*

The Jackie Mason interview was a much-needed breath of fresh air into the pages of a stale and too-too-politically correct Calendar.

He is quoted as saying that anyone supporting Liar Clinton is a “sick bastard.” How true. I have such respect for Mason, I will likely place his picture on my piano!

ROY ROUDINE

Los Alamitos

*

Brownfield makes reference to comedian Lenny Bruce’s alleged “obsession” with the John F. Kennedy assassination and his habit of reading verbatim from the Warren Commission report onstage. Although Bruce did take a lot of heat for his comment that Jackie Kennedy “hauled ass to save her ass” after the shots rang out in Dallas, it was comedian Mort Sahl who became an impassioned critic of the Warren Report and often read to his audiences some of the more ludicrous passages directly from the transcripts.

As for its being an obsession, perhaps Sahl was just ahead of his time. Twenty-five years later, Oliver Stone would make millions covering the same ground (minus Sahl’s satirical touch) in his movie “JFK.” In the mid-’60s, Sahl was risking everything by focusing a spotlight on the loopholes that have led most Americans to dismiss the official government version of the president’s murder.

Sahl and Bruce both paid a price for being ahead of their time. But it’s easy to tell them apart: Sahl is the one who is still alive and funny as ever. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

ROBERT B. WEIDE

Studio City

Weide produced and directed the documentaries “Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition” and “Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth.”