_______________ HOW THE MEDIA CONVICTED HILLARY CLINTON BY MOLLIE DICKENSON (06/29/98)
	Bravo to Mollie Dickenson for clarifying what the national media has muddied! A fine woman has been pilloried by the nation's leading newspapers and the conservative infrastructure for daring to have a career and opinions of her own. The loss to Mrs. Clinton in time, money and reputation, while large, pales beside the loss to our country -- the loss of the services of an intelligent woman who tried to live up to her liberal ideals. -- Michael Kano With respect to Mollie Dickenson's column on the Clintons and Whitewater, all I can say is blah, blah, blah. Another liberal sycophant bites the dust. And it isn't too smart for the lady to trash the venerable publications that pay her salary. The White House and Hillary Clinton have obfuscated and obstructed Starr's investigation into Whitewater from day one. They have refused to answer subpoenas and paid off potentially damaging witnesses to remain silent or to lie. If apologies must be made, make them to the American people. They are the ones who got screwed with that bunch in the White House. And Ms. Dickenson should give up the whining and start recognizing the Big Lie when she sees it. -- Lee Nichols I loved Mollie Dickenson's article about the New York Times' coverage of President Clinton and Hillary. I have noticed the same thing over the years. I am a professional photographer and I have noticed that the Times not only writes negatively about Bill and Hillary, but the paper has gone out of its way to find unflattering photos of both over the years. This is not an accident: Photographers give editors numerous choices. What I can't figure out is why does the New York Times hate Clinton so much? What did he do to piss them off? -- Peter Ogilvie
_______________ SPOILED ROTTEN: THE DEMISE OF DISCIPLINE BY SALLIE TISDALE (06/25/98)
	My wife and I must be living in the wrong place. We live in an exurb that hasn't yet been discovered by the fashionable people. Moms in their 20s and early 30s are big around here -- there are practically no other parents of toddlers who are over 40 like us in the entire county. And believe me, control and discipline are big words around here as well, especially when it comes to the 4-and-under set. We're absolutely astonished that "permissiveness" is a big problem in America. Where we live, it seems like discipline starts at around 13 months. The fact that I allow my daughter to walk around the supermarket and "help me shop" at 33 months is practically radical. All the other 2-year-olds have to stay in their shopping carts and space out, if they know what's good for them. Once in a while my daughter gets a little noisy or tired, but most of the time she has excellent manners. My wife and I definitely are not totally permissive parents. We're actually teaching her to say "please" and "thank you." But sometimes I like to go to the suburbs nearer to the city, or to certain sections of the city itself -- just so I can be with people who don't treat their children like criminals on probation. -- Larry Letich Thank you, Sallie, for saying what's been on my mind for years now! I, like you, had my kids when I was in my early 20s, but now in my late 30s I seem to be surrounded by people my age or older with toddlers. Wild, spoiled-rotten toddlers that no one else can bear to be around! Go into any restaurant and there they are: these "adorable" tykes being left to wander (dangerously) in and out among the harried waitstaff's feet, the parents fawning over their every adorable word and action. Don't these people ever want to get away from their kids? And that incessant "tell me what you're feeling" to little kids throwing fits makes me crazy! Don't get me wrong. I think children are fantastic and that parenting is one of the most important jobs we ever do. I talk to my kids a lot about how they feel about things. Respectfully listening to their feelings is one thing; thinking you have to accommodate their every wish is another! The best thing for kids is to be treated like kids, not peers, and for parents to act loving, but firm. -- Allyson Dinneen I just read Sallie Tisdale's article on the demise of parental discipline. It was a pleasing sight. I'm a successful 27-year-old who was fortunate enough to have parents that loved me. They corrected me when I needed it, told me no when I needed it, took things from me when I needed it, turned me over their knee when I needed it. All this started when I was old enough to understand what no meant. Kids not too much younger than myself grew up with the "don't spank your children" epidemic. In Indiana, corporal punishment was done away with in schools while I was still a child, and the effects were noticeable. As I look back now, discipline became a greatly increasing problem because there were no consequences for misbehavior. As I watch the news today, seeing all the children carrying guns to schools, shooting classmates or fearing they'll be shot, I can't help but think it's caused in some significant part because a generation and a half of parents were taught not to discipline their children, not to tell them no, not to spank them. These kids grew up believing they could do no wrong. Shooting people seemed the right thing to do on TV, why not at school. Besides, they've never been punished before, what makes them think they'll be punished now. -- Lance Stallcop SALON | July 7, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| THE LITTLE OPERATING SYSTEM THAT COULD BY ANDREW LEONARD

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