Privacy

* Thank you, Robert Scheer, for not backing off (“Privacy Issue Bubbles Beneath the Photo Op,” Commentary, Nov. 16).

Viewing the purchasing of congressional and presidential power at the direct expense of personal liberty is repugnant. [Former Treasury Secretary] Robert Rubin’s prostituting himself has forever negated any admirable accomplishments he may have laid claim to.

Republican and Democratic congressional leaders, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, have effectively demonstrated they share certain qualities. Integrity, conscience and legacies are all for sale. Just appeal to their elitist mentality and they will readily name their price; $300 million in lobbying satisfied their appetite well enough to trample on over 50 years of our right-to-privacy legacy. Is it infuriating that they sell themselves and us so cheaply, or just sad?

KEVIN MANY

Thousand Oaks