PUBLIC FORUM : CLINTON SHOWS DISREGARD FOR AMERICAN PUBLIC.

I was moved by President Clinton's heartfelt confession, and in my heart I would like to forget and move on. But this is hard for me to do, for it is not his affair that poses the problem within my soul.

It's his disregard for the American people, for not giving them the truth and bringing a lack of integrity to his presidency.

So I would like to ask: Can we trust you, Mr. President? Can we trust you to not lie to us in political matters? Can we trust you to not lie to us in international or economic matters? Can we trust you to lead us with integrity? For if we cannot, then we have no leader at all, and it is then a sad day for America.

It is not what he does in his personal life, but what he does in his public life that concerns me, and what he did in his public life was lie to us all.

- Vicki Kruse Simi Valley

Mr. Clinton said that ``even presidents have private lives.'' I don't believe this to be true.

When a person goes into public life, his private life and the way he conducts himself are very much in the public eye. A president especially is very much under the scrutiny of the people and should conduct himself as such.

Whether he did anything illegal remains to be seen. Personally, even though I distrust him, I'd rather see him finish out his days in office. I just can't see Al Gore doing the job.

- Abbi Witty Tujunga

I voted twice for Clinton. We as a ``village'' now need to pray that our president can get through the next two years without acting like a sexual buffoon.

- Joan Lawyer Van Nuys

Essentially, what Clinton did was state that he had committed an inappropriate act (no details), and now it was time to get on with business and get rid of that awful Ken Starr, who was conducting a politically motivated vendetta against the president. In other words, the king made a mistake, but since the king is law, it wasn't really a mistake. He forgave himself, and now it's business as usual.

Well, I'm sorry, but it isn't that simple. It would seem that he denies having perjured himself, refused to answer all the questions asked by the special prosecutor, and continues to lie to the American people. He promised a full and complete explanation but gave us a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo - ``I didn't tell the truth, but it wasn't a lie.''

He showed no real contrition for his wrongful acts; he's just sorry that he got caught.

- Ken Hartley Northridge

America has lost its moral courage and leadership by the behavior of its highest officer - the president. There are many other injustices around the world for which America can do little except pay lip service, such as systemic genocides in several African countries, slavery practices by many warlords in Africa, and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in many parts of the world.

Ancient Chinese heroes showed off their chivalry by straightening any visible injustice outside their homes. Since America has lost its moral leadership, it cannot practice chivalry. Mr. Clinton is no hero. He should let someone else lead the country out from the dirt of moral decay.

- Chris Chui Canoga Park

Re Clinton's ``come-clean speech'':

Perhaps President Teddy Roosevelt said it best when he stated: ``If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law. Under the higher law, under the great law of morality and righteous, he is precisely guilty, if instead of lying in a court, he lies in a newspaper or on the stump; and in all probability the evil effects of his conduct are infinitely more widespread and more pernicious.''

How prophetic those words are.

- John D. Holt La Canada

I feel that President Clinton is human and that all humans make mistakes. I also think people need to lay off his business.

So he had an affair. So what? Most people do. We all need to look past that and realize that he did a lot for our country over the years, and we all need to give him credit for that.

I feel we all need to forgive, forget and move on.

- Rosemary Ortiz Sylmar

The American people should not allow Bill Clinton to manipulate them any longer. Clinton is not the victim here. America is the victim.

We have been lied to repeatedly, forced to fund a long investigation that as it turns out has been vindicated by Clinton's revelation, subjected to fierce stonewalling by Clinton's cronies and made the laughingstock of the world.

What a sad testament to the decline of our nation that a draft-dodging, wife-cheating liar is commander in chief. He lost his moral authority to lead long ago. For the sake of our nation and what is left of his own limited dignity, Clinton should resign or face impeachment.

- Jason Oliver Simi Valley

He chose public office. He is responsible to the American people to be an example of honesty and moral behavior. If he wants his ``private'' life to himself, then he needs to resign his public position.

We all make mistakes, but one would hope we learn from them. This man has not. He is a fraud and an embarrassment.

- Karen Malch Newbury Park

The truth is that Mr. Clinton does what he does because he likes girls. There's no more to it than that.

Many men probably now regret the hours they spent in singles bars instead of in the real meat market - politics.

- H. Millard Costa Mesa

Medicate `zombies' or else

In response to Dave Cintron's letter (``Mental health cover-up,'' Public Forum, Aug. 4), I disagree on certain points.

Sure, mental illness is not totally understood, but why wait until something horrible happens before we act? I'm referring to cases involving sociopaths like John Zimmerman, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, who viciously mutilated seven teen-agers in the L.A. and Valley area in the '70s and '80s.

Although there is no cure for insanity, with medication and treatment most conditions stabilize. Unfortunately, most mental patients, once left to their own devices, stop taking the medication.

It's people who say medication turns the mentally ill into zombies who help create the zombies who ultimately savage the innocent.

- Reed Rankin North Hills

Bus lot at school must go

I was more than surprised by your Aug. 16 editorial attacking our efforts to eliminate the bus lot at Birmingham High School.

As a teacher and a coach at the school for the past 15 years, I can tell you firsthand of many disasters that have barely been averted. What has not been averted is the inhalation of the poisonous fumes that have spewed from these machines.

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified diesel as a probable human carcinogen, as has the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Your newspaper should be leading the attack on the LAUSD to move this bus lot away from the students it purports to serve. I applaud Julie Korenstein's efforts on our behalf, and hope the rest of the school board takes her common-sense approach to remove this danger from our school grounds.

- Rick Prizant Woodland Hills

Abortion not ideological

I commend the Daily News for printing Stephanie Salter's article (``Kansas doctor keeping women's alternatives open,'' Opinions, Aug. 7) regarding abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

Tiller has continued his work for more than 20 years despite being shot in both arms because he cuts through ideology with the statement that he is ``doing the right thing for his patients: women.''

This is the truth about abortion. Every abortion is about the life of one woman and the decision she makes with her partner, her family, her doctor and her God. This woman is not a political statement or a statistic. She is your mom, sister, aunt, daughter, best friend.

When we see abortion in this light, there is no place for the public debate - or the violence.

- Nancy Sasaki President/CEO, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles

`Child welfare sob sisters'

Re ``Boys, 7 and 8, face murder trial'':

I don't believe the authorities have all the guilty parties in custody. I believe the boys' parents should share the blame as accessories to murder. They certainly are guilty of child neglect for not teaching the boys right from wrong plus respect for other people's property and life.

The problem is the child welfare sob sisters. A parent really can't chastise a child for wrongdoing without being charged with child abuse. I'm no saint, but growing up on the end of a razor strap gave me a sense of values that kept me out of serious trouble.

It is time we dumped the civil rights for offenders and got back to fundamental rights for victims.

- Freddie Steese Lancaster

Freeman a Gore disciple

In his Aug. 16 article, ``Global warming needs action'' (Viewpoint), S. David Freeman states that ``the 20th century has been the warmest in 600 years - with the 1990s the warmest decade, and 1997 the single warmest year.''

He implies it was warmer sometime over 600 years ago. If that's the case, certainly burning fossil fuels was not the cause. He'd be hard pressed to prove the claim, or its causes, that this century is the warmest in more than 600 years. I think he has just adopted Vice President Al Gore's agenda.

Improving energy efficiency is a desirable goal practiced by most consumers. But to impose costly government mandates justified by spurious claims is wrong and should be rejected out of hand.

- Gene Gustavson Glendale