Letters

PERSON OF THE YEAR

"George W. Bush is the person of the moment, but he did not have the influence over events in the year 2000 to merit your choice." JIM BOYD Emporia, Kans.

I commend TIME for its choice of George W. Bush [PERSON OF THE YEAR, Dec. 25-Jan. 1]. The media tended to be biased toward Bush during the whole campaign and its aftermath, but through it all, Bush showed how much grace, class and strength he possesses. I agree that he deserves such an honor. AMY VEACH White Lake, Mich.

In 2000 Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia; the Serbian people overthrew Slobodan Milosevic; South Korean President Kim Dae Jung put his country and North Korea on their best footing in 50 years; Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat failed to reach an Israeli-Palestinian agreement; and Vicente Fox ended 70 years of P.R.I. rule in Mexico through the ballot. To people outside the U.S., the presidential election was hardly the event that contributed the most to influencing the news, for better or worse, in 2000. JOAO LUIS HAMBURGER Sao Paulo

I really appreciated your Person of the Year. You made an excellent choice. I am happy for President-elect Bush. CECILIA JENKINS Chicago

TIME's argument for naming Bush is that this was a historic election, one that will be cited in the century to come, and that whoever was the survivor would be a "symbol of a historic showdown." True, but Bush was not the sole cause of the great drama, simply its beneficiary. He was a part of the action, but so were Vice President Al Gore, Ralph Nader, the designers of the Florida ballot and the Founding Fathers, who created the Electoral College. Bush has not done one thing to effect change on anyone so far. I congratulate him on winning the election, but wait until he does something before singing his praises. You lowered your standards this year. KEVIN GANNON New York City

TIME chose a man who has not yet had an opportunity to have a significant impact on events. He is important because he was selected to be President by a partisan court, not by the people. DANIEL R. KUEHN Arden Hills, Minn.

Bush is the President-elect. Let the naysayers take a break from second-guessing and give the new Administration an opportunity to present its agenda. Both Democrats and Republicans could end up being pleased with the accomplishments of a Bush Administration. WALTER W. SCHOENHOLZ Barrington, Ill.

A much better selection would have been Gore and Bush as People of the Year. Both men made their mark on our country's history in 2000, but you chose the man who ascended to the presidency by keeping votes from being counted. Extremely disappointing. GINA MAXWELL ULBERT San Antonio, Texas

THE CONSTITUTION SURVIVES

Thank you so much for the encouraging words "Yes, We'll Survive" on your cover with the U.S. Constitution [Dec. 18]. That simple message of hope and optimism, once commonplace in American culture, helped me walk a little more upright. Enough Chicken Littles can indeed, if unchallenged, make the sky fall. Thank you for using your voice to build us all up a bit. You were heard. MARK ARNOLD St. Louis, Mo.

Thomas Jefferson and his fellow framers of the Constitution are smiling down on TIME. That was a powerful cover with an affirming message--exactly the reassuring "grounding" all Americans needed. Thanks for capturing the essence of our nation's proud democratic foundation and recognizing how truly remarkable it is that this document, written 225 years ago, still has the ability to guide us through these challenging times. JANE LUMM Ann Arbor, Mich.

For those of us who have always admired America's democratic, electoral and legal systems, the events of the five weeks following the election shook our confidence. With the courts rather than the polls deciding elections, America may have forever lost its place as the world's bastion of democracy and equity. The damage from the fallout of this election may be irreparable. Countries where Jimmy Carter supervised elections must be having a good laugh. OBI ENE New City, N.Y.

DOWN BY LAW

The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the recount of votes in Florida [PERSON OF THE YEAR, Dec. 25-Jan. 1], thereby awarding the presidency to George W. Bush, made one thing crystal clear: the Land of Liberty now has a government of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers. What's next? In lawyers we trust? DORAISWAMY NARAYANAN Mitcham, England

If there is no equal protection for voters, as the Supreme Court ruling showed, why vote? A biased court will decide for you. Is this the democracy the U.S. wants to export to other countries? ADELHEID MEYS The Hague, the Netherlands

WHAT ATHLETES EARN

It would be nice not to have my views misrepresented, as they were in the article by Robert Sullivan, "Big Bucks and Baseball" [SPORT, Dec. 25-Jan. 1]. I have never been among those critical of the size of any player's salary, present or past. Nor have I ever had a "sky is falling" reaction to any new contract plateau that has been achieved. What I have said is that a successful league depends upon each team's having a reasonable opportunity to compete. Until fairly recently, that opportunity existed in baseball. It no longer does, and will not again, until owners and players undertake significant reforms, allowing each of them--plus the game itself--to thrive. BOB COSTAS, NBC Sports St. Louis, Mo.

MUSICIANS GOOD AND BAD

Hold on! Do you really think Wyclef Jean [THE BEST & WORST 2000, Dec. 18] is "the most inventive male performer in rap"? I agree that his work is eclectic and he has an amazing range of styles, but I wouldn't call him the most inventive. There are plenty of hip-hop artists who write their own lyrics and beats (something Wyclef often seems to neglect); what about real wordsmiths like the lesser-known the Roots and Common? Wyclef Jean is a good listen and a crowd pleaser, but I wouldn't go so far as to put him in the Top 10. ERIKA KRANZ Tallahassee, Fla.

In naming pop musician Eminem as the worst in music last year, you noted, "Attacking women and gays isn't rebellious, it's archaic." That is the smartest thing anyone has ever written about Eminem. Too bad other magazines gave kudos to the year's most visible bigot. Thank you, thank you, for not including Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP on your list of the 10 best albums. THOM RENTON BRITTANY Seattle

CORRECTION

Our Numbers item stating that there was an 83% chance that a coin flipped 5,825,043 times would land on one side at least 537 times (Bush's margin of victory in Florida) more than the other was incorrect [NOTEBOOK, Dec. 25-Jan. 1]. The chance of that happening is 66%.