William Rehnquist
According to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the gaudy sleeve decorations on his judicial robes have no meaning--he just likes them because he saw them on the robes of the Lord Chancellor in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe” (Jan. 8). I think he’s being quite disingenuous. Any real G & S fan would certainly know the opening lines to the Lord Chancellor’s famous song: “The law is the true embodiment / Of everything that’s excellent, / It has no kind of fault or flaw, / And I, my Lords, embody the law.” No meaning, indeed!
CHARLES KAPLAN
Los Angeles
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Ordinarily I would be grateful for David O’Brien’s scholarly review of the history of Rehnquist’s skewed attitude (Opinion, Jan. 10). But in this case it is a wasted effort--one look at those gold stripes and you know you’re dealing with a farcical character. Which is quite in keeping with this whole impeachment procedure.
EUGENE KUSMIAK
Fallbrook
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Here we go again; Rehnquist is touted as just the next in the long line of right-wing henchmen. Kenneth Starr is old news, so the lefties have to question the motives of the next guy in charge of President Clinton’s future. Never mind who put these guys in charge of his future (Clinton did, of course, by his own actions!).
Perhaps the scariest thing for the lefties to consider is this: Not that many years ago, Rehnquist and a bunch of Democrat senators (27 of them still in office) agreed to oust an impeached federal judge--for lying under oath in a civil trial.
KENNETH K. EBMEIER
Upland
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O’Brien’s article on Rehnquist is a one-sided, distorted hit piece.
RALPH L. MERRILL
Long Beach
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The Senate’s bipartisan agreement on trial procedures is commendable (Jan. 9), but in its re- flected light the utter failure of Rep. Henry Hyde’s leadership stands out ever more darkly. The proceedings under his gavel were so bitterly partisan that they lost any legitimacy. The Senate’s attempts at fairness will not wipe away this stain, and the House Republicans will labor under a partisan cloud for the remainder of this Congress, until the electorate can administer the appropriate punishment.
COBY KING
Encino
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Both sides are so busy patting themselves on the back for having started the impeachment procedures on a nonpartisan agreement. Really? All they agreed on was to put off all decisions until much later. Typical of Washington--they live in such an unreal world, they actually believe all of the American people are proud of their accomplishment.
Unfortunately the real war will soon begin; the managers are preparing for full battle.
ANNE LEBRECHT
Laguna Hills
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Just imagine how much time we could save the justice system with the “perfectly sensible” idea your Jan. 8 editorial advocates: brief presentations of the case for and against followed by a poll of the jury to see if we really need to proceed with the trial. We could call it Justice Lite.
KEITH DeBELIUS
Burbank