Letters

MEN OF THE YEAR

"Kenneth Starr and Bill Clinton have presided over a year that will endure as one of the most shameful in U.S. history." MARTIN SCHLANK Aberdeen, N.J.

President Bill Clinton and independent counsel Kenneth Starr as Men of the Year [Dec. 28-Jan. 4]? Are you joking? Those two deserve a good old-fashioned tarring and feathering, not the cover of TIME. Their actions and the attention they've gained make me question the validity of the U.S. political system. JARED THOMAS, age 18 Montpelier, Vt.

While my views on what public officials should do match those of the rightist and purist Starr, I have to make an exception for the individualist Clinton--not for his personal conduct regarding sex but for his ideas about government and world affairs. CHARLES W. WALL SR. Gretna, La.

Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine should have been named Man of the Year. After all, he can smoke out adulterers in the government at far less cost and in far less time than Starr. And Flynt can also get a confession, remorse and a resignation at no extra cost! ROBERT COALE Chicago

Clinton and Starr spent the entire year trying to discredit and destroy each other. In the process, they consumed considerable time and resources that could have been better spent addressing America's real problems. They accomplished nothing of which to be proud. Your choice of these two egomaniacs was shortsighted and a great disservice to your readers. ROBERT F. VIOLANTE Natick, Mass.

Even though President Clinton lied under oath, lied to the American people for months and then denied lying even after sorta fessing up to the truth, you made it sound as if it were the Republicans who were in the wrong. If TIME had put as much energy into investigating why the Democratic Party (and the media) was so eager to defend a President who couldn't tell the truth, it could have ended the year practicing journalism instead of propaganda. MICHAEL J. GALLAGHER Cortland, N.Y.

Clinton, no matter what he has done, should not have to pay the penalty of sharing a cover with Starr. DICK ALEN Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Just what does choosing Clinton as one of your Men of the Year say to our young people and the rest of the world--that America honors men who lie and who are immoral? CYNTHIA WELLS Longview, Texas

MUSINGS ABOUT STARR

Of course, your profile of Kenneth Starr [Dec. 28-Jan. 4] presented him in a flattering light. After nearly five years of observing his prosecutions in Arkansas, I know he doesn't take questions, much less grant interviews or leak information to people who might be critical of him. Your "investigation" concludes that his suspicious contacts with the Paula Jones-Linda Tripp forces have been overblown. Yet you did not mention how Starr knew the details of the Monica Lewinsky affidavit before it was filed in court. You mention Starr's lack of political savvy in questioning Lewinsky's mother. But the questioning of mothers and children on matters light-years removed from Bill Clinton was standard practice by Starr in Arkansas, as were inquiries into Clinton's sex life. These are facts, if not the "truth" to which Starr is so devoted. MAX BRANTLEY, EDITOR Arkansas Times Little Rock, Ark.

You stated that "Starr had a chance to trap Clinton in a way that could have destroyed the President" if Clinton had continued to deny sexual relations with Lewinsky at a time when Starr held contradictory DNA evidence from the blue dress. You noted that although the prosecutor "wasn't legally bound to inform" Clinton, he nonetheless decided to alert the President rather than set the trap for a "clear-cut perjury case." I wish the prosecutor had not been so magnanimous. Clinton's ratings in the polls would now be much lower. ALICE WROBLEWSKI Pittsburgh, Pa.

THE BETTER HALF?

Hillary, another Joan of Arc, enduring so much suffering because of philandering Bill [Dec. 28-Jan. 4]? Baloney! That tough little gal marches to her own drummer's beat. It will be interesting to see her plans for fulfilling her personal ambitions after Bill leaves office. I wonder if he is included? Hillary has the media and the public just where she wants them, thinking she's such a martyr. BILL BANDLE Manchester, Mo.

As Hillary Clinton makes vocational plans for the future, in either the private or public domain, the question is, How can she expect to win back respect and the all-important women's vote with the persona of a doormat? BARBARA REIDER El Dorado Hills, Calif.

People wonder why Hillary doesn't divorce Bill. Don't bet on it. She will remain married to the scoundrel for the duration. If she were the ex-Mrs. Clinton, she would be a nobody. Isn't it ironic that the feminist elite point to her as an icon, when in fact she is just the old-fashioned wife of a powerful man? DAN HARRELL Savannah, Ga.

GIVE MONICA A BREAK

Didn't anyone at TIME see that satirist Christopher Buckley's piece on Monica Lewinsky's future [VIEWPOINT, Dec. 28-Jan. 4] was completely out of line and inappropriate? Has anyone there heard of respect and perhaps even compassion? Why is it that Hillary gets kudos and Monica is the fall girl? I am disillusioned and offended that a publication like TIME would solicit, print and, of course, pay for such a piece. BECKY SAKELLARIOU Athens

Buckley jokes that in June 2003 a paparazzo will take a photo of Monica in Winnipeg, Man., from which she "flees on a snowmobile." Say what you like about Monica, but leave my hometown out of it. To imply that Winnipeg has enough snow in June for snowmobiling is hitting below the belt. PATT ANDERSON Calgary, Alta.

Buckley makes fun of a woman in a style that smacks of a bar filled with male drunks. He mocks her sexual conduct, which--except for its bearing on the charges of perjury against Clinton--much of America thinks is her own business. He jokes about her weight at a time when young women are making themselves ill trying to become "thin enough." One wonders what goes on in the men's room at the offices of Buckley's publication and what respect the women there are accorded. Not to mention the women at TIME magazine. MYRNA WOODERS Toronto

CLINTON'S STRATEGY FOR IRAQ

Saddam Hussein has been playing the shell game with U.N. arms inspectors for years [NATION, Dec. 28-Jan. 4]. And yet Clinton wants people to believe he simply had no choice but to order the bombing of Iraq to start just as the House voted on impeachment. I've had enough of Clinton's manipulations. Get rid of him and arrest him for war crimes! SEBASTIAN GRUNSTRA Ottawa

Who is supplying Saddam with the materials needed to amass Iraq's lethal arsenal? Why waste lives and money attacking various sites in Iraq rather than the important sources of supply? Could it be that money rather than sanity is driving our universe? KENNETH B. MCRAE Etobicoke, Ont.

The U.N. should cut a deal with Saddam: it would immediately lift the embargo and provide economic aid to Iraq; in return, Saddam would step down. The U.N. must tell him that as long as he stays, the embargo will remain. If Saddam refuses, then Iraqis will know he is the sole cause of their suffering. If he steps aside, then the free world will help Iraqis rebuild their shattered economy and live in peace. ANNEMARIE MANGION Strasbourg, France

ISSUES OF IMPEACHMENT

The real lesson Americans have learned from the Clinton impeachment proceedings orchestrated by House Republicans [NATION, Dec. 28-Jan. 4] is this: It is O.K. to commit adultery, as in the case of Bob Livingston, or even have an illegitimate child, like Dan Burton, as long as you don't lie about it. HARRY HSU Pittsburgh, Pa.

Clinton will be remembered as one of two U.S. Presidents to be impeached. Starr and the House Republicans will disappear onto the trash heap of disdained history, and Clinton will always have his asterisk for impeachment. GEORGE TAYLOR Barrie, Ont.

Let's do away with Congress. If opinion polls show anything, it's that the American people think the country should be governed by opinion polls rather than by their elected representatives. We clearly have the technology to run the country by polls. Majority rules! (Of course, I might be sarcastic.) PETER SCOTT Burbank, Calif.

The House of Hypocrites has spoken. COLIN FLETCHER Carmel Valley, Calif.

When a pious member of the House looks squarely into the TV camera and says the House of Representatives' behavior is not partisan but is about the President's telling lies, people understand that the Congressman is lying. What upsets us most is that Congress is ruling from its inside-the-Beltway fiefdom, disconnected from and apparently unconcerned with what the people repeatedly demand: that Congress get on with governing and leave this debacle behind. We can only hope the electorate will remember the Republican Representatives' arrogance in November 2000. PETE KOLBENSCHLAG Grand Junction, Colo.

Never underestimate the power of the American people to forgive and forget as long as the good times are rolling. JEFF HINMAN Tremont, Ill.

A STUNNING JUXTAPOSITION

At the very moment I was looking at the horrific picture of a starving Sudanese child in your photographs of the year [IMAGES '98, Dec. 28-Jan. 4], I snapped on the TV, only to see Jerry Springer's holiday food fights, featuring tables bounteously laden with foods that Jerry's guests proceeded to throw at one another and all over the stage. Surely, we should fear the wrath of God! LILLIAN SMITH Lake Geneva, Wis.

THE DECISION TO RELOCATE

Your article "Five Ways Out," accompanying your series on tax incentives and subsidies for companies [SPECIAL REPORT: CORPORATE WELFARE, Nov. 30], mentioned Hobart Corp., a unit of PMI Food Equipment Group, stating that in 1995 the company moved its Dayton, Ohio, plant to Piqua, Ohio, as a result of tax incentives, and that employees had only three days' notice before the closing. In fact, the relocation decision occurred only after Hobart determined that its Dayton facility was antiquated and inefficient. The move would have occurred regardless of any tax incentives, which to date have been less than $155,000, not the $2 million cited. Furthermore, the company announced the closing in December 1994, more than six months before the relocation. JOSEPH DEERING, PRESIDENT PMI Food Equipment Group Troy, Ohio

NEW JOBS FOR PHOENIX

Your report on what it cost the city of Phoenix, Ariz., to encourage Sumitomo Sitix of Japan to locate a silicon-wafer plant there was intellectually dishonest in describing what occurred [SPECIAL REPORT: CORPORATE WELFARE, Nov. 23]. You ignored the fact that this company brought 400 new high-tech jobs and an annual payroll of $14 million to a section of Phoenix that offered few employment opportunities. You failed to note the additional wealth created by yearly payments to vendors of $10 million, a $1 million payment to Phoenix for development and impact fees and $5 million in construction sales taxes. You repeated the activists' rhetoric of a bad odor and pollution. We realize this makes for good controversy; however, you failed to clarify that human health and the environment were not at risk, and the start-up problems mentioned in your article have been corrected for some time. We are concerned that your reporters did not speak to anyone at this company. If your readers are interested in judging for themselves, we invite them to visit our website at www.sitix-ssp.com MATAJIRO NAGASHIMA PRESIDENT AND CEO Sumitomo Sitix of Phoenix Inc. Phoenix, Ariz.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

It was with a great sense of accomplishment that I just finished your cover story "How America Has Run Out of Time," about our frenzied life-style and inability to achieve everything we are trying to do [LIVING, April 24, 1989]. With the new year upon us, we should resolve to enjoy life more. Some ideas: let's drive faster, thus spending less time in our cars; use more convenience and frozen foods to save preparation time; get and stay organized in all facets of our lives and...stop procrastinating! JIM ABSHIRE Denver

EASY ACCESS TO GUNS

In your look back at some of the year's key events [THE FOLLOW-UP, Dec. 28-Jan. 4], you wrote of the shooting in Jonesboro, Ark., in which two young boys fired on students and teachers. I was amazed at the apparent naivete and arrogance of Douglas Golden, grandfather of one of the shooters, who said of raising a child to hunt, "You're teaching him how a gun is supposed to be used, not abused. It's not an instrument of violence." There will be more Jonesboros unless American society realizes that the crux of the problem is guns--both their sheer number and the apparent ease with which youngsters can access their parents' weapons. Britain learned its lesson about guns and schools after the 1996 Dunblane, Scotland, school massacre. Will the U.S. and its powerful gun lobby learn anything from Jonesboro? PAUL MURRAY SR. East Kilbride, Scotland

PATCH IN PRACTICE

The heart of the movie Patch Adams, in which a physician prescribes laughter as the best medicine [CINEMA, Dec. 28-Jan. 4], is not Hollywood sentimentality; it is medical reality. I have met the real-life Patch Adams twice. He wears outlandish clothes and recites Pablo Neruda's love sonnets from memory. Adams inspired me and other medical students to defy and persevere through the dehumanizing environment of medical training that crushes one's spirit and enthusiasm to serve others with humility and love. As a doctor and a patient, I have benefited greatly from changes in medicine brought about by rebels like Patch. JAY NAIR, M.D. Nashville, Tenn.