Letters

"IT'S NOBODY'S BUSINESS BUT OURS."

After seven months of lies, deception, frivolous legal maneuvering and constant attacks on independent counsel Kenneth Starr, Bill Clinton thinks all he has to do is bite his lower lip, confess and tell Americans it's time to move on [SPECIAL REPORT, Aug. 31]. We simply cannot abide by a standard that says it is O.K. for a President to engage in an extramarital affair inside the White House with a 21-year-old intern, lie under oath and then engage in sidetracking the inquiry seeking to uncover his wrongdoing. We cannot, as a nation, afford to remain indifferent and silent regarding this man's conduct. DOUGLAS G. VETTER New York City

I hope the leaders of our country, including the Supreme Court Justices, will consider the wisdom of allowing a sitting President to defend a civil suit while in office. The disruption, destruction and divisiveness our nation has experienced over the past months have been exhausting to the people and paralyzing to our leaders. JERRY KING Gretna, La.

Clinton admitted his mistake (to a certain degree), then spent the rest of his Aug. 17 speech attacking Ken Starr. But Clinton brought this on himself. Couldn't he just say, "I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I misled the American people and my family, and I am the only one to blame"? No. He basically blamed Starr. Enough is enough. It's time for a change. JUSTIN DUDLEY, 15 Iowa Park, Texas

Oh, my God! the President of the U.S. is...human! PATRICIA BECKER-SPELLMAN Stevenson Ranch, Calif.

As an assistant principal who has dealt with adolescent behavior for nearly three decades, I have found that it is not very difficult to distinguish between those who are truly sorry for their misbehavior and those who are only sorry they got caught. Most other Americans can tell the difference too. JOHN CAPANNA Pasadena, Calif. The simple words of the Rev. Jim Casy in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath provide meaningful commentary on the Clinton-Lewinsky matter: "There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing. And some of the things folks do is nice, and some ain't nice, but that's as far as any man got a right to say." DONALD A. HERRON Sugar Land, Texas

"An inappropriate relationship" is what Clinton called it; a shameful disgrace to the office of President of the U.S. is what it is. THOMAS L. BRINSON New Bern, N.C.

I, like President Clinton, will do anything to avoid the prying eyes of self-righteous demons like Starr and his horde, who show such utter contempt for privacy. JOHN BROUWER Alliston, Ont.

Clinton and his lies have cost American taxpayers millions of dollars. It is not Starr who is responsible but the President through his sex-crazed actions. How can people defend this immoral man? Where has our morality gone? Following the President's, I guess. GERALD S. KUPKOWSKI Cheektowaga, N.Y. The President should have ended this long ago by not answering questions that no one had any business asking. If others are so quick to condemn Clinton for not being a saint, they should rightfully welcome intense public investigations into their own sex lives. If only perfect Americans who have never lied should be elected, then 99% of the politicians in office should resign at once. CAROLINE KIM Cleveland, Texas

This Clinton whitewash has had enough spin. It's time for a rinse! TIM I. MARTIN Corona, Calif.

You referred to the President's apology. I must have missed it. All I heard in Clinton's speech was arrogance and putting the blame on others. WILLIAM M. WITTY Dallas

America should be happy to have a human being, not a robot, as President. LENY HEINEN Asbach, Germany

While Clinton confessed, it was without remorse. But there's no doubt that he sure is one sorry President! WENDY TURNER WEIDNER Mechanicsburg, Pa.

This is not about Clinton's private life. It involves the President, who had sex with an employee in the workplace and then lied about it. If the average guy looks cross-eyed at a female co-worker these days, he is out of a job or in court or both. Why is Clinton immune? DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKI Chicago

The fault, dear William, lies not in our "Starrs" but in ourselves. BENJAMIN A. HORWITZ Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Monica Lewinsky was an adult at the time of the "inappropriate relationship" with President Clinton. She should be adult enough now to apologize to Clinton's wife and daughter for playing with their lives. Not all the blame should fall on the President. CARIN MCKEE Hyde Park, N.Y.

The President, without regard for his family or country, has acted immorally. A man whose first concern after doing wrong is his own embarrassment does not belong in the Oval Office. A man who cannot control himself has no business running a country. JENNIFER DAVIS Albany, Ore.

Clinton was unfaithful and lied to cover it up, just as thousands of others have done. Then he told people who were snooping around to mind their own business. Good for him. CEDRIC VENDYBACK Kelowna, B.C.

So what message has Clinton sent to Americans? If you have a family, it's O.K. to lie under oath and refuse to discuss details with a grand jury? Clinton's televised speech was neither emotional nor sincere but an insult to the American people. Clinton wants to be remembered as a great President; well, he will certainly be remembered. MIKE DOCHERTY Hong Kong

President Clinton failed to be "Slick Willy" by picking the wrong girl. Were I a man, I would not have chosen Monica Lewinsky in a million years. ALBERTA CRESCENZI Rome

After all that's been published on Clinton's behavior, there must be few literate people in the world who aren't aware that it is something of a risk to accept the word of the U.S. President. Is he different from the average American? That is the question non-Americans are now asking themselves. J.H. VAN DER VYVER Durbanville, South Africa

We foreigners admire Clinton and love him for what he has done for the world. His personal problems do not interest us, and we believe Starr is being used by the Republican Party with promises of a political future. BEN SOUROUJON Mexico City

THOUGHTS OF BOB DOLE

We should have elected Bob Dole. He is too old to chase interns around the Oval Office. DON A. ELLIS Overland Park, Kans.

Still, all in all, I would rather have Clinton as President with his pants zipped down than Dole with his trousers zipped up. Hmmm. Perhaps I should start thinking about Newt Gingrich with his lips zipped up. WILLIAM P. BOYER Dodgeville, Wis.

MOTIVATION FOR ATTACKS?

Although punishment for those who bombed the U.S. embassies in Africa was definitely overdue [WORLD, Aug. 24], the timing of the retaliation seems to have been motivated by the desire of the President to buttress his sagging image after public humiliation. Is it any wonder that the missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan by the American forces have been named "Operation Monica Lewinsky" by many people around the globe? VIDYADHAR S. RANADE Zurich

There can be only one response to atrocities committed by terrorists: more and bigger missile strikes. There are no "innocent" civilians in nations that harbor these criminals. Now that we know who the enemy is, the response time should be much shorter--24 hours or less. This is not a game of tit for tat. This is a real war. Only a firm resolve will put these inhuman criminals back in their cage. EDWIN M. ALLEN Ridgecrest, Calif.

WHEN KIDS MURDER

In your story on youngsters who kill their playmates [CRIME, Aug. 24], you noted that a nine-year-old boy went back to playing a Nintendo game after shooting a seven-year-old girl. I'm no child psychiatrist, but I'd reckon that the nonstop remote-control cartoon killing that occurs in many video games begins to desensitize even the most normal kids after a while. Throwing rocks at a girl on a bicycle, which occurred in the Chicago case of the two boys accused of killing an 11-year-old, can quickly seem sport akin to stoning an ugly cartoon character. Baby boomers grew up with plenty of violence, as in Road Runner and Popeye cartoons. But there we were just observing it, not causing it. Yeah, yeah, I know: "Games don't kill people; children do." WILLIAM A. KANE III Alexandria, Va.

I have a son who has not yet reached the age of two, yet I am thoroughly convinced that at this early age he definitely knows right from wrong. Murders that have been committed by children are an outrage. I do not feel sorry for young children who may not know exactly what is going on in the courtroom. I feel sorry for parents who are robbed of their children and the happiness of watching them grow up. Our society is concerned with the rights of the wrongdoer rather than those of the innocent victim. We should make examples of the killers, children or not. The laws should be strict. Murder is murder no matter what the age of the perpetrator. HEATHER A. GUZIK North Versailles, Pa.

HOPE UNDER SIEGE

With the bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland [MILESTONES, Aug. 24], the situation has gone past being "difficulties" between Catholics and Protestants. It is now firmly in the hands of mental deficients whose only purpose is murder. LEA WATSON Chiba, Japan

Northern Ireland has paid dearly for its "peace" accord with terrorism. The Omagh bomb brings to mind the many explosions in Jerusalem since the false Oslo "peace" accords. The parallels between Northern Ireland and Israel are staggering: ambitious politicians willing to sell out their own people for a Nobel Prize and the release of convicted terrorists. Now Yasser Arafat and Gerry Adams are treated as statesmen and invited to the White House! What goes around comes around. The bombs in Omagh and at American embassies in Africa are no different from the bombs in Israel. The source is the same: evil, lawless, state-sponsored terrorism. ROSS MONTGOMERY Brighton, England

WHITHER THE MOUNTAIN LION?

Mountain-lion attacks [ENVIRONMENT, Aug. 24] seem to happen on and around the land where the animals once wandered. In the absence of their usual food, they prey on whatever they can get for their survival. What can be done to keep mountain lions from roaming on developed property? This is an interesting question when you consider whose property we're discussing. We have forced this on the big cats in the name of progress. Don't human beings kill in order to eat? Whether we are meat eaters or plant eaters, our food died in the name of sustenance. Someday children will ask, "What is a mountain lion?" They'll have to rent the video. CHARLES REILLY Philadelphia

Mountain lions have nowhere else to go (we took care of that); they have nothing else to eat (we took care of that too). What options remain for them? Not surprisingly, other creatures don't think we are superior just because we can think and speak. Our superiority complex has led to destruction. JESSICA GLASS New York City

MOTORCYCLE PERSPECTIVES

Robert Hughes masterfully captures the spirit of motorcycling in his review of the museum exhibit of the big cycles in New York City [ART, Aug. 17]. As a 43-year-old emergency-department physician, I took a giant leap six years ago and made the transition from piecing bikers back together to straddling my own BMW R1100 roadster. These wonderful machines offer an escape for the soul and spirit, a place to relish life's victories and reconcile its defeats. But Hughes is correct: you'll have little use for one "unless you are prepared to go somewhat out on the edge." BOBBY MITCHELL, M.D. Douglasville, Ga.

As an artist whose soul feeds on beauty, I was delighted to see your piece on the motorcycle exhibit. My son owns a motorcycle dealership, and I visit him and his shop frequently, for his machines make me feel good. I am always overwhelmed by their design; they are true works of art. Thank you and the Guggenheim Museum for validating my taste. ELEANOR K. PRAGER Palo Alto, Calif.

I think motorcycles are Japan's revenge for the atom bomb. Since 1945, bikes have killed or maimed more Americans than Japanese were killed at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. MARIO G. SEMERE Los Angeles