Free speech and free markets

Re “The extreme-right way to make a buck,” Opinion, Aug. 16

Will Tim Rutten be writing a similar column about the extreme-left way to make a buck? After all, there have been many agitprop books attacking the Bush administration and conservatives over the last eight years, written by left-wing literary hit men such as Michael Moore, Frank Rich, Robert Scheer, Eric Alterman and Chalmers Johnson.

The bottom line: Who cares whether these types of books are published? We live in a free society. No one is forced to buy them. The only correct antidote for bad speech is more speech.

Peter Rich

Los Angeles

Thank you for pointing out the absurdity of Jerome Corsi being treated as a legitimate voice in this election, and the moral bankruptcy of the right-wing media community that will promote anyone who will further their ideology and make them money, regardless of how distasteful their background may be.

If only voices like yours had been quicker to discredit Corsi’s first political opus, perhaps we wouldn’t still be mired in the worst presidency in memory.

Andrew Matthews

Los Angeles