PUBLIC FORUM REALITY IS CLEAR.

Re ``Going 'postal' a myth?'' (Sept. 1):

Having been in law enforcement for over 20 years, I can fully appreciate the fact that there are those out there who may attack me with a firearm. I must admit, however, that I have never been afraid that someone at my place of work would be a suspect in the crime. I'm sure the same holds true for cabbies and chauffeurs. Sadly, statistics show that postal workers can't make the same statement. Fifteen shootings in 13 years, resulting in 40 people killed by gunfire: That's a little over one shooting a year, with around 2.5 people killed per incident.

If this doesn't sound a bit obscene to Joseph Califano, it sure does to me. Trying to downplay the significance of these events by comparing them to other occupations is patently absurd. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to surmise that cab drivers and street cops are more likely to become victims of violence than the folks who sort the mail for a living. This is simply not the point. The reality is glaringly clear: Postal workers were involved in highly sensational (and sensationalized) shooting incidents. For whatever reason, they choose to take out their frustrations by firing bullets into innocent people. My conclusion? In spite of what Califano tries to tell us, there is simply no myth to the mayhem.

- Michael Bornman

Valencia

Flag rights

Kelly Khoury of Glendale is expressing his right by the First Amendment to display as many American flags as he pleases. The city of Glendale does not want him to have too many flags because it is protecting the flag from being used as business advertising.

We are told that flag desecrators are exercising their right by the First Amendment. I would like to know if the city of Glendale has a similar order to protect the American flag when it is burned or desecrated in any form. Would somebody in Glendale answer my question?

- Haydee Pavia

West Hills

We're not stupid

As a citizen of this country who believes in the democratic process, I would like to know why Ralph Nader is being kept out of the upcoming debates. Recent polls show that 64 percent of the people believe he should be allowed into the debates yet the Commission on Public Debates ignores this fact completely.

They have decided that only candidates who reach 15 percent in the polls will be included, but how can a third-party candidate possibly get that kind of support without being let into the process? Considering the commission is made up entirely of Democrats and Republicans, their decision not only seems exclusionary, but also scared and desperate. I only have two questions: What are they afraid of? And do they really think the American public is stupid enough to not care?

- Kent Osborne

North Hollywood

Another politician

Tyler Powell's article ``Opting for a third party'' (Aug. 27) was quite interesting and I'm in basic agreement.

However, Joseph Lieberman has reversed himself and no longer supports school vouchers so he can fit in with Al Gore. (Private schools being good enough for Al Gore and his children, but not for people whose parents are not rich enough.)

Lieberman has also reversed himself on affirmative action and privatizing part of Social Security. Who knows what's next? Lieberman has shown himself to be just another politician, shifting with the wind and with no firm principles when it comes to politics.

- Robert S. Kennedy Jr.

Camarillo

Playing politics

Joe Eszterhas vs. Joe Lieberman. Joe Eszterhas will hold his nose and vote for Al Gore. People will play politics and vote for a pig in a poke. Al Gore will lose. Well, that's the way it looks like to me. Everyone wants a political purist, but they don't win. Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich were purists. Of course, they don't get credit. Clinton is a little like Carter. They're both responsible enough not to wreck things up.

- Rikio Matsunami

Los Angeles 

Tax cuts

There are a number of problems with ``target'' tax cuts, which no one seems to want to address. For one thing, it suggests that all that business about ``All men are created equal'' has given way to the class warfare mantra. Furthermore, it means that, in order to get tax breaks, it is necessary to follow edicts from Washington rather than chart one's own course through life. In addition, it's a way of buying votes with someone else's money.

The class-warfare police are fond of quoting that across-the-board tax cuts benefit the ``rich.'' But the top 5 percent of earners pay 50 percent of the income tax collected already. After an across-the-board tax cut, this figure won't change and many at the bottom of the ladder will find themselves paying no taxes.

- Mike Savell

Simi Valley 

Oil policy

In an amazing (but not surprising) demonstration of his short-sighted allegiance to the oil business, George W. Bush announces his plans to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil: Authorize more drilling. The story I read only mentions drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is only a matter of time before pristine wilderness that should be protected is in the sights of the oil companies with the support of Bush.

Al Gore may have some oil stock; however, he has demonstrated his passion for the development of alternative fuels, along with the creation of jobs in that field, and a total reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels. Bush's plans seem to be geared toward benefiting his oil buddies (including Dick Cheney) at the expense of our air, land and futures. Bush can't see the clean air and untouched forests for the trees - his view is blocked by cronyism and dollar signs.

- Jan Dores

Sylmar

Whose responsibility?

While I feel sympathy for the couple whose daughter has the deadly peanut butter allergy in Thousand Oaks (``School declares no-peanut zone,'' Sept. 2), I cannot help but wonder why they would risk sending her to school. Surely she will be exposed to peanuts sooner or later.

Perhaps the best solution would be to home-school their child until she is old enough to avoid peanut products and use an emergency epinephrine kit on her own. Were my daughter's life at risk, there is no chance that I would send her where the risk is dramatically increased. Instead, it seems that once again the public must make accommodations down to the lowest common denominator and, if the young lady has a severe reaction, the school district (our tax dollars) will probably be liable. When are we going to learn that our children are predominantly our responsibility?

- Steve McCombs

Chatsworth

Missing the fun

Hilarious. Every pompous, pretentious diss of the most popular show on TV came from some old fogey who never actually watched ``Survivor.'' How typical.

If they wanted reality TV and a true sociological experiment, they should have called up real-time ``Big Brother'' on the Internet. Of course, now ``BB'' Web is boring because CBS shot itself in the foot by allowing the show's only star to be banished by another contestant's home town. Pop culture is endlessly fascinating. Too bad your letter writers are missing it.

- Merry Shelburne

La Crescenta

Not fair

I don't think it's really fair to impose an age limit for driving privileges. More mature folks have experience upon which to draw. However, along with maturity often comes problems such as small strokes. Therefore, a person who is perfectly OK 99 percent of the time could suddenly black out, and it doesn't take much imagination to realize what could happen if he or she were driving at the time. But rather than bar seniors from driving, period, I would suggest that, at an age to be determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles along with a panel of doctors, that the person be required to have his/her doctor fill in a form stating that there is no medical reason why the person cannot drive, as of that date, as often as they deem practical.

- Terri Andrews

Castaic