PUBLIC FORUM; NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

Re ``At least Jenny Craig cares about Lewinsky'' (Opinions, Jan. 9):

About 1 percent of Marianne Means' article addresses the near downfall of the presidency, while the remaining 99 percent is a nasty personal attack on Monica Lewinsky. In particular, Means tells us that she thinks Lewinsky is a poor role model to be a spokeswoman for the Jenny Craig organization.

I would like to remind Means that any number of people with a shady past, or, at least, an aura of notoriety surrounding them, have benefited from their pasts. For instance, many of the Watergate cast of characters, including some who went to jail for their involvement in that fiasco, have made big money by writing about their participation. In addition, some of those people have been allowed to live down their pasts. For example, Richard Nixon became an elder statesman of sorts in some people's eyes during his later years.

I'm sure that Means believes in the free enterprise system. So why is she so down on poor Monica, just because she is trying to earn a buck?

- David M. Galfond

Palmdale

ELIAN'S FATHER

Re ``This is not right'' and ``A parent's rights'' (Public Forum, Jan. 18):

Condemning a child to live in Castro's Cuba is nothing less than child abuse. Indeed, his father's wish to return him to live in slavery is prima facie evidence that he is unfit to be a parent. The intemperate remarks from Elian's father - in which he publicly expressed a desire to shoot, strangle and otherwise harm individuals who have Elian's interest at heart - likewise cast grave doubt upon his fitness to be a parent. Indeed, had Juan Gonzalez uttered such sentiments in this country, he would have had a visit from child welfare authorities, and Elian would have been removed from his custody. If he had said these things in, for example, Laguna Beach, the Gestapo (sorry, police) would have opened a dossier on him and quite possibly arrested him for making terrorist threats.

- James F. Glass

Chatsworth

CHILD ENDANGERMENT

In the matter of not returning Elian to his biological father, I am disappointed that the media has withheld or misconstrued certain facts regarding his arrival in the United States. The point has been made that his mother sacrificed her life to bring the little boy to freedom. In reality, didn't she subject her family to unnecessary risks in an ill-equipped vessel unsuited for this journey? The evidence seems to suggest suicide and manslaughter from the resultant acts.

Had I sailed with my children under the same conditions, I might be incarcerated for child endangerment and vehicular manslaughter. I would believe they were coming to a land where one's civil rights provide innocence before guilt is proved. These circumstances provide a paramount opportunity to exemplify to the world the basis of these rights, i.e., presume Elian's father guilty of nothing and return Elian to his rightful guardian. It is about fairness. We already understand how wrong it is to separate natural family members and how painful it ultimately is for all. The current political behavior now mirrors the tyranny that they left.

- Richard Waxman

Tarzana

GOVERNMENT'S ROLE

Kudos to the Daily News for its principled editorial ``We don't need GTV''(Jan. 16) in opposition to television networks submitting scripts and footage for government review in return for advertising dollars. The first rule of conquest is to gain control of a nation's communications infrastructure. By subverting the networks' own standards and practices, the federal government has attempted to do just that. More surreptitiously, perhaps, than an external enemy might, but with no less insidious intent. The government's proper role is to protect our constitutional rights, not to propagandize and undermine basic freedoms, and certainly not at taxpayer expense.

- Bill Farley

Sun Valley

ONLINE VOTING

Leave it to some bright person to come up with Online Voting. We have some of the most sophisticated hackers in the world getting into some of the most secure areas. Not only in the United States, but now they are coming from other countries and are holding these companies for ransom.

Otherwise, they will release confidential information over the Internet (i.e. credit card information), and we are told there is nothing that we can do about this because of where it is coming from. Do we have such an ego that just because we are Americans in America that we are free of this sort of thing?

There is an element in this country that will do anything for power, including voter fraud. There are still areas where an unscrupulous person can buy votes from the indigent, where fraud is being used in voter registration, in almost every election. Now they really want to make it easier for a power-hungry element to steal one of the last things we hold dear, our vote. Let us hope that sanity will prevail before this can be implemented.

- J.J. Moore

Sylmar

MOVING POLLUTION

Re ``Electric Cars Sparking Enthusiasm'' (Jan. 17):

What makes people think that electric cars are nonpolluting? Where do the drivers of these cars think the electricity comes from when they plug them in to recharge their batteries? It comes from a power generating plant.

These electric cars are just moving the pollution from one place to another.

- Larry Cohen

Glendale

FACING DEADLY FORCE

Regarding a letter in the Jan. 16 Public Forum from Bruce Alan, the ex-Marine who sees no need to keep firearms: May his good fortune hold.

I held the same belief for 25 years. Then an intruder in my home changed my mind. I was embarrassed for having forgotten my own Marine Corps training and Vietnam combat experience and allowing myself to be caught unprepared.

I don't know if Alan has ever faced deadly force, but it is something one never forgets. The overwhelming majority of my Marine and Army friends who have been confronted with it are firm believers in possessing firearms for defense. They have no desire to harm anyone. But they also have no desire to become victims.

- Mark Hoover

Winnetka

PROTECT IS KEY

Re Letter in Public Forum by Bruce Alan, ``Not my God,'' (Jan. 16):

Alan takes issue with the quote from a National Rifle Association member which, in part, reads ``. . . our legally owned guns to protect us as God and the Founding Fathers intended.''

Alan misinterprets the statement to imply that God intended for us to use guns. In fact, it is the ability to protect ourselves, and our families, that is the God-given right that was specifically referred to.

I would suggest Alan read Luke 22:36, in which Jesus advises ``. . . and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.''

- Steve Holtz

Sherman Oaks

DON'T DEPEND ON IT

Re ``Social Security,'' (Public Forum, Nov. 20):

My grandfather was forced into early retirement at the college where he taught due to shrinking enrollment. Now he is well past the age to receive Social Security, but circumstances make it impossible to retire on his retirement plan and Social Security.

So, for the past 15 years he has worked as a real estate agent. At the age of 77 he was finally able to retire with full benefits. He tells me constantly that young workers need to build their own plan with investments, so they can retire on time.

Social Security is not a good thing to depend on in the future. Young people have enough options and chances to invest wisely. There is no excuse not to have a good retirement plan.

- Jay Kos

Woodland Hills

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Photo: Jenny Craig spokeswoman Monica Lewinsky poses for her ``after'' photograph.