Kenneth Starr

In the last sentence of your May 8 editorial summarizing the Whitewater investigation you posed the question, “Is it all clear?” The answer now is no. The correct answer should be yes. To secure the correct answer, independent counsel Kenneth Starr should continue his investigation (which includes overcoming obstruction of the investigation by the Clinton administration) till the American public has the clear answer, whatever it be.

FRANK WITHERELL JR.

San Clemente

* Conrad’s May 6 cartoon of the presidential seal being cut out of the floor from below by a saw with the word “Starr” printed on the blade actually left much to the imagination. Since the independent counsel was authorized by the attorney general and a panel of three judges, he is indeed merely a tool of the Justice Department.

If we could see the floor below we might very well find President Clinton’s own hand on that saw’s handle, while perched precariously on a flimsy ladder made of lies and deceit. All the rungs below him would be broken through and labeled with the names of Webster Hubbell and others that have already been convicted by Starr.

JOHN TINTLE

Nipomo

* As a very longtime Republican and living in a very conservative area, Orange County, I must voice my total disgust at this independent prosecutor process. The last straw was with Rep. Dan Burton and the edited telephone conversations with Hubbell and his wife and lawyer.

This whole process has become very political and partisan, with the end justifying the means. What have the taxpayers gotten for their $40 million?

America sees this for what it is, a political vendetta to get the president at any cost. Make no mistake about it, in many American minds Starr is the ‘90s version of McCarthyism in a different form.

At the same time, Congress has polarized into name-calling and partisan bickering. What have we come to?

FRED SCHWARTZ

Irvine