The rage burning through FranceRe “Chirac Vows...

The rage burning through France

Re “Chirac Vows to Restore Order as

Riots Grow Across France,” Nov. 7

There has been much conversation of late about our failure to rely sufficiently on the advice and consent of our putative ally France. I wonder how tolerant we Americans would be if our president failed for 11 days, as Jacques Chirac has, to publicly respond to a countrywide uprising of armed, politically oriented, unassimilated hooligan arsonists.

Perhaps our brand of political wisdom is not so deficient after all.

WILLIAM R. SNAER

Lake Arrowhead

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The echoes of 1968, both in the French riots and in those during the Americas Summit in Argentina, are unmistakable.

Given the global context in which these events are taking place, I see no reason to believe that America itself is immune (as though anyone living today could still believe that America is immune from anything).

While the anger of the poor makes itself felt on the streets of cities across France, those who persist in thinking “it can’t happen here” are invited to consider recent events in New Orleans.

MARK C. EADES

Oakland

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So after decades of cozying up to the Arabs and hectoring Israel for defending its people from violence, France winds up with an intifada in its own backyard. Who says there is no poetic justice?

GIDEON KANNER

Burbank

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Wal-Mart’s practices are no bargain

Re “A healthy memo,” editorial, Nov. 5

People don’t “despise the world’s largest retailer merely because it is successful.” Critics of Wal-Mart are appalled by the business tactics that cause it to be the largest retailer in the world. These include squeezing Third World suppliers for lower prices each year, paying low wages and running locally operated competition out of business.

You celebrate Wal-Mart’s new health insurance plan without noting that the new health plan only happened because of widespread publicity about poor coverage of employees.

The editorial says that almost half of Wal-Mart employees are enrolled in a health insurance plan, compared to 36% of employees in the retail industry as a whole, without noting that the vast majority of retail operations are small or moderately sized businesses. Wal-Mart’s employee benefits have to be compared to comparably sized businesses to evaluate how much it “cares” about its employees.

CAROL J. SMITH

Cerritos

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I was more than a little shocked to read The Times tacitly condoning Wal-Mart’s slave-labor practices because its prices might benefit low-income people and create jobs for Americans who might not otherwise have jobs. There is no moral justification for buying a product sold at the expense of human beings working under abusive conditions, as in Wal-Mart’s infamous foreign sweatshops, no matter how much of a bargain it might be.

STEVEN LYLE

Montrose

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Churches should pay for using the bully pulpit

Re “Conservatives Also Irked by Probe of Churches,” Nov. 8

Our founding fathers, in all their wisdom, made specific mention of this. After all, wasn’t that one of the main reasons for crossing the Atlantic and coming to the New World to live and enjoy religious freedom from the persecution of the government? For many years now, and it seems to be getting worse all the time, clergy of all faiths have delved into the political arena and made their feelings known, even so far as to suggest as to how the faithful might cast their ballots.

I think the time has come for the IRS to vigorously investigate all such meddling. If you want to play in this arena, padre, pull out the checkbook and pony up like the rest of us.

MARTIN W. DOWNS

Rancho Mirage

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How ironic that a lawyer would cite the free-speech provision of the 1st Amendment to support retention of a church’s tax-exempt status after the church’s minister gave a sermon on a topic generally considered a political issue.

We wouldn’t have to worry whether the IRS was treating this church unfairly if we heeded another 1st Amendment provision -- that which forbids government from establishing religion -- and quit giving taxpayer-funded subsidies to all churches.

DAVID MICHELS

Encino

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Disparate views over the United Nations

Re “Rogues, despots, terrorists and shattered ideals -- the movie version,” Current, Nov. 6

The United Nations may have failed to stop many nations from violating human rights, but we know Ron Silver’s and David N. Bossie’s movie is propaganda because of the prominent complaints regarding the resolutions against Israel. The U.N. Charter indeed requires member nations to renounce aggression and respect international law, borders and human rights. Israel stands in flagrant violation of international law and borders in claiming parts of the West Bank in a war of conquest that it started.

Perhaps the U.N. merely recognizes that the 1947 partition plan that legitimized Israel, which was done against the wishes of the majority of the people who lived there and led to the massacre of thousands of Palestinians, was one of its first and worst mistakes.

LYN MCKUEN

Los Angeles

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Stanley Meisler (Current, Nov. 6) needs to read Silver’s and Bossie’s critique of the United Nations. How can a body that is complicit in the murders of 800,000 Rwandans and thousands of Bosnian Muslims be described as “works well”? Only in a world that awards the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat could the relevance of the United Nations possibly be defended.

SANDY WHALING

Springville, Calif.

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‘Laguna Beach’ is a fantasy

Re “There’s Laguna, and Then There’s MTV’s ‘Laguna,’ ” Nov. 5

Since when has any “reality show” had anything to do with the real world? This genre’s formula for success is to cast people as themselves in dramas that could be real if they weren’t being filmed. It’s like taking a life and editing out all the boring parts. “Laguna Beach: The Real O.C.” is a hit because its stars live every teen’s fantasy existence: all fun and no work.

Ask any of today’s high school students and you’ll find the opposite is true: Extracurricular clubs and sports, studying and part-time jobs leave little time for play, even in Laguna Beach. For any student who hopes to be admitted to a decent university today, hard work and community involvement are the only realities.

ELLEN GIRARDEAU KEMPLER

Laguna Beach

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Plame case leakers must go

Re “Rove’s Security Clearance Widely Questioned,” Nov. 6

It is difficult to imagine a greater betrayal of the public trust than a high government official, in time of war, leaking the name and identity of a covert CIA agent to a syndicated columnist as petty partisan revenge for the agent’s husband publishing an Op-Ed article criticizing the president.

Regardless of whether laws were broken, if White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove or any other Bush administration official was involved in such conduct with respect to the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame, that person should not merely lose his top-secret clearance, he should resign.

STEPHEN A. SILVER

Walnut Creek

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In the ballpark

Regarding The Times’ coverage of the Dodgers, Matt Welch (Current, Nov. 6) states that Southern Californians might want “an intelligent discussion ... where truth matters more than ... insults.” The truth is that the Dodgers finished 20 games below .500 this year, and that statistic is an insult to Dodger fans. However Times writers choose to paint that picture is fine with me.

ALAN PERRY

Thousand Oaks