PUBLIC FORUM : IF NEWT DISHONORS HIS OFFICE, WHAT ABOUT BILL?

I find it peculiar that with all the scandals and ethical lapses Bill Clinton has yet to acknowledge, let alone own up to, the uproar over whether a college course Newt Gingrich taught was partisan or not turns out to be the story of the year (``Press turns slings, arrows on Gingrich,'' Daily News, Dec. 29).

It borders on the surreal to witness the spectacle of Gingrich taking a direct hit for a lapse that should warrant no more than a reprimand, while Clinton blithely strolls through an increasing number of legal land mines with nary a peep from these ethically challenged ``opinion makers.''

If Gingrich believes there is a pervasive liberal bias in the East Coast media, I would be hard-pressed to disagree with him. If devising newfangled ways to disseminate conservative ideas - if non-tax-exempt - is the worst Democrats can come up with to oust the speaker, then I'd have to say that ethics is not the biggest beef with the opposition, but ideology.

If Gingrich's lapse on this matter brings dishonor to the House of Representatives, I shudder to think what Clinton's antics - FBI files, Travelgate, foreign fund raising etc. - contribute to the office of the presidency.

House Republicans should stick to their guns and continue to back their man as speaker. It is no less than what their opposition continues to do even as their leader tests the bounds of illegality.

Compared to what the Democrats are mired in at this point, the headline should more aptly read: ``Newt, much ado over nothing.''

- Maris Bellamy

Northridge

Revisiting the '50s

Re comments on the articles in Opinions by Mona Charen, Dec. 26; and Morton Kondracke, Dec. 27: Both Charen and Kondracke are praising Judge Robert Bork's new book ``Slouching Toward Gomorrah.'' They both cry ``turn back the clock'' and ``damn the Internet.''

The early 1950s might have been wonderful for Bork; he's a white male. For everyone else, they weren't so good.

Is Charen old enough to remember when a married woman could get a contraceptive diaphragm only with her husband's permission, and single women could not get fitted at all?

Is Kondracke old enough to remember when a Christmas trip to grandma's was a demeaning rough journey for an African-American family? Dad drove, while mom slept, then mom drove, while dad slept and everyone ate in some of the finest kitchens in the country. There was never any room in the inn if you were not white, and the only African-Americans allowed in restaurants were the busboys. Does either remember when most Latinos were field hands and most Asians were gardeners?

Meanwhile, Charen and Kondracke joined Bork in condemning the Internet as nothing but a tool for perverts. I tell you that technology is always neutral. How did Judge Bork write his book? How do Mona and Morton write their columns - with a quill pen and ink, a manual typewriter or a state-of-the-art word processor?

Pornography was written long before the computer. The same video camera that records your baby's first step and your 10-year-old's church pageant can also record child porn. The CD player will play anything from rap to rhapsodies.

A display ad for a local Internet provider says it all: ``If you had total access to every piece of knowledge on Earth, where would you go, what would you do, who would you be?'' The key word always has been and always will be: you.

- Woodrow J. Hughes

Northridge

McDonald's shooting

I read the Associated Press article in the Dec. 29 Daily News about the suspect arrested for the shooting of three employees of the McDonald's restaurant in Vallejo, Calif.

There is something very disturbing about the reporting of the suspect's conviction for armed robbery in February 1995 and his phone calls to McDonald's during the past two weeks, requesting his old job back. I am puzzled as to how this person was walking the streets, less than two years after a conviction for armed robbery.

If your report is correct, someone in the criminal justice system owes the public an explanation. Why was the murder suspect out of prison less than two years after having been convicted of such a serious felony?

- Laurence D. Cohen 

Glendale

Arena subsidy opposed

Our roads are crumbling; public transportation is bad; our schools and libraries are understaffed, underequipped and underfunded; public health facilities are being closed due to lack of funding, and they are overcrowded; recreation facilities are lacking and in need of repair and new equipment.

Yet the Los Angeles City Council in its ``wisdom'' is considering spending tens of millions of our tax dollars to help build a new sports stadium for the wealthy owners of basketball and hockey teams.

I say millions for public education and libraries; millions for public transit; millions for public safety; millions for public health facilities; millions for our crumbling roads to be repaired - but not one cent of tax money to build a new sports stadium.

The above services are used by almost everyone in the city of Los Angeles. Can the City Council say the same for a sports stadium costing tens of millions of dollars?

- Philip Nathan

Valley Village

Accept gifts graciously

It was with disgust that I recently watched on television people returning Christmas gifts for exchange. The remarks some of these people made were ungrateful and in my opinion hurtful.

When one is given a gift, it should be accepted graciously and with appreciation. Somebody has taken time to choose the item, carefully wrap it and present it all in good faith.

I can understand clothing being exchanged for size or color, but the remarks made during the exchanges were rude and uncalled for. One woman said she hated the item and said this in an amused way. Another remarked that her mother-in-law had sent her a jacket, which she believed already had been an unwanted gift.

I once worked as a saleslady in a retail clothing store. At Christmas time and other special occasions, husbands would come in for help and advice to choose something for their wives. I was pleased to do my best in this situation.

However, when some of these items were returned for exchange or refund, the remarks made by these women were far from polite. One instance I remember clearly, the item being thrown on the counter while the woman said, ``I can't wear this. Why does my husband bother?''

I held my peace but felt like saying, ``You should appreciate he is buying clothing for you and not for another woman.''

Where have good manners, feelings for others and appreciation gone?

- M. Jean Levicki

Panorama City

What a coincidence

I am truly indebted to the Daily News for the ``On This Day'' reminders, especially on Dec. 25.

In 1946, comedian W.C. Fields died in Pasadena at age 66. In 1977, comedian Sir Charles Chaplin died in Switzerland at age 88.

Imagine, W.C. Fields and Charlie Chaplin, two of the world's greatest comedians, each dying on Christmas Day.

Each considered the other his only true competition in popularity, and the fact that each film about them, ``W.C. and Me'' and ``Chaplin,'' failed at the box office only proves that there was only ``one'' W.C. Fields and ``one'' Charlie Chaplin, impossible to duplicate.

Thanks again for such a unique Christmas gift.

- Eddie Cress

Los Angeles 

Appeal: `Really listen to a child'

Take a moment sometime soon and really listen to a child. You will be amazed, surprised and touched, and you may even get a laugh.

Recently, my first-grade class was working on a creative writing lesson about whom they would like to visit. We had many of the usual-type responses - aunt, friend, grandparents, but then there was this one that really stood out.

One little boy wrote, ``I like to visit my mind.'' Amazing. Along with his story, he had drawn a picture of himself with images of things that were in his mind. He told me that some of them were scary. He still wants to visit there though and confront his fears.

We all spend time blotting out or masking our personal fears. We sometimes keep so busy that we never have to catch a glimpse of reality or ever really ``visit our minds.''

On my mind recently was the horrific Daily News article of Nov. 15, reporting that in 1995, 49 Los Angeles county children had died at the hands of their parents or care-givers. That is 25 percent more than the previous year.

Later, we read about Adrianna Krygoski, the little Reseda girl who was severely injured at her baby sitter's house and then died three days short of her first birthday (``Baby girl's death devastates couple,'' Daily News, Nov. 29). Sadly, Adrianna is now part of yet another statistic.

We cannot do anything for these children now except pray, but we can do something for other children. This year, let's make children a priority! Pick one child or youth, maybe someone from your neighborhood, church or workplace and make that child your special friend.

Then go a step further. Volunteer at a school, Sunday school or youth group. Support services, agencies and politicians that are advocates for children.

Then, really listen. Step back from the frenetic pace. Reflect and rejoice, for all around us is our most wonderful gift from God: children.

- Monica Warrick

Winnetka