Sperling on Clinton: hit or miss?

Regarding "In which this columnist (gasp) praises Mr. Clinton" (Dec. 28): Mr. Sperling, please do not insult Monitor readers' intelligence by claiming to admire President Clinton's "smarts" and his ability to continue to function well.

Your damning with faint praise fools no one as to your resentment at Mr. Clinton not being brought down by his hubris and the concerted efforts of many groups to do likewise. Clinton is a survivor because he has been an efficient president and that's what he was elected to be. And while most of us who voted for him are appalled by his self-indulgent behavior and angry at the embarrassment we all went through, I find your crusade on a par with Linda Tripp's.

Judith Ghoneim Charlotte, N.C.

Mr. Sperling, you have "guts" to spell out what you said. From now on I am voting for the person. The person who most closely exhibits the honesty, ethics, courage, and yes, character. To me, that is overwhelmingly the most important virtue for leading our country out of the moral morass it is in today. And without morality at the top, we are doomed to despair.

Stanley L. Morse Rancho Mirage, Calif.

How wonderful that before this millennium ends you've paused in your relentless roasting of President Clinton. I hold no sympathy for his pathetic affair with Monica Lewsinsky, but he has stood firmly on important national and international issues, and when he speaks he is most eloquent and appealing. Imperfect he certainly is, but he has more substance than just a talent for campaigning.

George Yasukochi Berkeley, Calif.

It was truly refreshing to read Mr. Sperling's column. It hadvalue in that it was truly informative - he said something different and new for him. I must confess I rarely read his remarks as they are predictable and unfortunately, in my humble opinion, evidence of a closed and blinkered sensibility.

Diane Moceri Honolulu, Hawaii

Enough carping about campaign chests

I write to complain about your reporters repeatedly casting aspersions on the campaign funds that presidential candidate George W. Bush has raised ("When big money becomes a liability," Dec. 27).

Does the press have trouble accepting the fact that a lot of people must actually have liked the message that Governor Bush presented to his donors?

Regardless of my personal views of campaign donations, I'm sick and bored with your paper's harping about one candidate's campaign chest. The reader knows about it all too well. Surely, your reporters can write about the issues that the presidential candidates do or do not advocate.

Glen Johnson Helena, Mont.

New view of Falun Gong

It is weird that Falun Gong gets so much attention ("Heresy in Beijing," Dec. 29). It seems to me that anything the Communists do in China is related to human rights.

Please go to the countryside of China, talk to the ordinary people, and ask what benefit they have obtained by practicing Falun Gong.

Chinese people, like the ones in my hometown, will tell you that Falun Gong is an evil organization. They are only interested in money.

Go to China, live with them, and talk with them, and be one of them.

Then you will really know what you are talking about when you write about the Chinese.

Ming-Hai Wang Denver, Colo.

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