Democratic Convention

* I want to applaud the Democratic National Convention host committee’s decision to turn away money from tobacco companies (July 6). While Philip Morris seems to be on my TV screen every night telling me how “good” it is because it gives to community organizations, it is comforting to know that the host committee has seen through the smoke screen.

Yes, tobacco industry, there is a price to pay for destroying so many lives. I am proud that the welcome mat won’t be rolled out in Los Angeles for an industry that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

BOB DOYLE

Los Angeles

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* Did you notice, mentioned in “Council Drops Plan for Protest Site” (July 8), that Los Angeles had issued a $2-million check to the “cash-strapped” convention host committee and another $2 million was approved at the same time? This coming from the city hypocrites who promised no city or public money would be used, as they arrogantly turned down large contributions from tobacco and gun companies.

THOMAS YOUNG

MAUREEN TOBIN

Culver City

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* It is rather ironic, not to mention disconcerting, that as The Times hails the new climate in Mexico, it ignores the growing concentration of power in the hands of the wealthy in our own backyard. Billionaires put up their own money to forward their ill-conceived solutions to our problems, paying signature collectors to qualify “education” initiatives for the ballot. Closer to home, we have a mayor who engineered the last school board election using his personal fortune and put up $1 million to help defray the cost of the DNC extravaganza.

This concentration of money and power in the hands of the few is among the many reasons I will join with countless others in peaceful protests during the convention. We are not terrorists or wild-eyed crazies bent on destruction. Rather, we are exercising the very rights that were celebrated just last week--the rights to free speech and assembly.

SHERNA BERGER GLUCK

Long Beach

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* If protesters would comport themselves according to their rights as defined in the U.S. Constitution, there would be no need for a gathering place or, for that matter, a sizable police presence at the Convention Center.

The 1st Amendment clearly states: Congress shall make no law prohibiting “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The operative words here are “peaceably to assemble.” Does anybody realistically believe that 10,000 to 50,000 protesters gathering near the Convention Center will just chant ‘60s slogans, wave homemade banners, distribute flowers and smile? If you do, that bridge in Brooklyn is still available.

JOHN BRODHEAD SR.

La Canada