PUBLIC FORUM\Safire's characterization of first lady backed.

Martha Ezzard wrote in her column, "Safire needs to check his facts and his tongue" (Opinions, Jan. 16), that the agreement between the Rose law firm and the Resolution Trust Corp. that gave the RTC extra time to sue the Rose law firm also gave the RTC extra time to sue Hillary Rodham Clinton.

According to Ezzard, this makes William Safire incorrect in his assertion that Mrs. Clinton evaded the statute of limitations by concealing the recently "found" copies of the Madison Guaranty billing records.

As an attorney, I can say that Ezzard is incorrect and Safire is correct. The tolling agreement only applies to the entity that made the agreement - the Rose law firm. Mrs. Clinton was not a part of the Rose law firm when the agreement was made and cannot be bound by it in her individual capacity.

The fact that the Rose firm has agreed to give the RTC extra time to sue the Rose law firm for work that she and other Rose attorneys did while at the firm does not give the RTC extra time in which to sue Mrs. Clinton in her individual capacity. Only she could have done that.

- Allan J. Favish

Tarzana

The other day, President Clinton compared his wife, Hillary, to Eleanor Roosevelt. Well, I didn't know Eleanor Roosevelt, I never worked with Eleanor Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt wasn't a friend of mine. I'm too young.

But I'll tell you this: Hillary Clinton is no Eleanor Roosevelt. Hillary Clinton tells a lot of lies. You may use whatever other terms for this that you like (obfuscates, dissembles, whatever) but, as my dear old dad would have put it, "She's not on very good terms with the truth."

There is documentary evidence in many instances of her outright lies, particularly in connection with the savings and loan scandal and the Travelgate affair. She lied and she got caught. All this obfuscation by the Clintons, that every time they clear up one matter, Congress brings up another, is bull. The fact is that Mrs. Clinton told outright lies, and later on got caught in the act. If she were an elected official, it would be appropriate for her to resign, rather than face perjury charges. Since she was never elected to her high-profile role in the Clinton administration, we can take the whole matter as an object lesson in why unelected first ladies (or first husbands) should not wield power.

- Roger J. Buffington

Glendale

It's too bad William Safire failed to complete his sentence when he wrote "Mrs. Clinton is a congenital liar." He should have added "just like her husband."

I watched the press conference and listened to the softball questions and was especially interested when Clinton said that the unemployment rate was the lowest in four years. Maybe he doesn't know that every city in the country has hundreds of unemployed people whose unemployment checks have stopped but whose names are not included as unemployed in the calculations used to make up the official unemployment rate. Also, many thousands who are working only two or three days a week are considered employed, and many more thousands who are working at or near the minimum wage and are considered employed.

I would like Clinton to explain to me why it is, with this very high employment rate, almost every third person in the checkout line at the supermarket pays with food stamps?

But of course presidents wouldn't know what goes on in the checkout line in supermarkets. Why should they?

- Joseph Schettler

Burbank

I wholly sympathize with our president's resentment toward insinuations of his spouse's propensity for prevarication.

And in the spirit of utmost compassion, recognizing that even presidents have feelings too, I would offer the following to our beleaguered commander-in-chief: If it distresses you for your wife to be called a liar, then what you must do is to instruct the good woman to simply refrain from lying.

- Ron Yorke

Reseda

NOW leader defended

In response to Charles Clay's comments (Jan. 14) about Tammy Bruce (president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Women) and her "vigilante war" against O.J. Simpson: I have followed her statements over the last few months and I don't find anything irrational or that I can't agree with.

It's not racism to want violence against women stopped, nor is it wrong to want justice for a man most still consider a murderer. This is not a black-and-white issue. It is the problem of abuse of women and a justice system that just may not work anymore.

- Robert Morrison

Tarzana

Ozone hole, cont.

I would like to answer the letter by Richard Borbely ("Ozone hole is real," Public Forum, Jan. 15) in his to Merwyn Hemp's Jan. 4 letter.

Borbely presents counterarguments that encapsulate those of the eco-radicals and their charlatan pseudo-scientist sources. While Borbely writes with an authoritative tone, his opening comment regarding chlorofluorcarbon molecules floating up in the atmosphere betrays his lack of scientific knowledge.

Borbely's doubts about the Antarctic polar vortex are unfounded. It is a real phenomenon that has been going on for eons, and discounting its importance reveals the usual liberal argument of "don't confuse me with the facts."

Borbely cites evidence that the size of the ozone hole has increased, but fails to note the amount of time that has passed since such measurements have been made. Relative to the earth's cycles, we have measured over a tiny stretch of time, and have insufficient data to draw any conclusions.

To make this precise, it would be a little like saying last week's blizzard back east signals the coming of the next ice age.

- David C. Wilcox

La Canada

Borbely's letter does not give enough consideration to certain areas of concern as to the theory of ozone depletion. One aspect is that the scientific community has identified the presence of stratospheric chlorine as a significant cause of ozone depletion.

The theorized mechanism of ozone depletion through man-made causes is that CFC's are stable enough to survive until arriving in the stratosphere, whereupon exposure to ultraviolet light causes the release of chlorine so as to cause ozone depletion.

But there are other and more significant sources of stratospheric chlorine. Thus the key issue is to what percentage of total ozone depletion is man-made and what percentage is caused by natural forces.

Those whose faith resides in the Montreal Protocol seem to hold that all ozone depletion is related to man-made causes.

This may not be totally correct, since the amount of data received from high-altitude measurements is from a relatively short period of time. In addition, they do not seem to want to address the effect of other man-made emissions.

Hopefully those of Borbely's persuasion will consider all sides of the debate equally before rendering final judgment.

- Anthony R. Canales

Granada Hills

'Leave china alone'

So you think it is horrible China is killing little girl babies with a deliberate policy of "fatal neglect" ("More rights abuses in China," Editorials, Jan. 11)? It's an old adage, "Before you complain about how bad things are, look around, they could be much worse." What could be worse than babies slowly starving to death while lying in their own waste?

One out of every five people on earth lives in China. If nothing happens, China will still add as many people as live in the United States by the year 2025.

Say that China recants and lets them all live. How much will they consume by 2015 when they are ready to start producing more babies?

China has the world's largest army, over 3 million men. What happens when they all pick up their AK-47s and start marching toward India, Burma, and Vietnam, all the while chanting "We've got to feed our kids, we've got to feed our kids?"

China is also a major nuclear power.

Leave China alone. There are no easy answers for this.

- Woodrow J. Hughes

Northridge

'Ludicrous' analogy

The letter comparing baby seals to children with regard to the abortion issue (Public Forum, Jan. 10) is an incredible oversimplification. I mean we are really talking apples and oranges here.

The analogy is a ludicrous one to begin with. What puzzles me is that people who have time and energy to devote to a cause are more concerned over a tiny group of fertilized cells than the multitude of children already on the planet who are homeless, hungry and unloved. Please do not give me the malarkey that there's a loving home for every child born into this world. I'll have to check my pillow tomorrow and see if the tooth fairy came.

- Elizabeth Suchernick

Van Nuys

Playing the race card

So Councilman Mike Hernandez is upset because the Los Angeles Police Department has given out more speeding tickets to West Valley residents than to motorists in his East L.A. district.

You can be sure that if the figures were reversed, he would be screaming racial harassment. No wonder morale is so low at the LAPD.

To Hernandez, state Sen. Diane Watson and L.A. school board member Barbara Boudreaux: a giant raspberry for their recent Cochranesque use of race to whipsaw people for their own political ends.

- Loren Zeldin

Reseda

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Photo (1) Mike Hernandez (2) The first couple President Clinton with his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton.