PUBLIC FORUM WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

For years the Boy Scouts of America and its supporters have been hoping and praying for the U.S. Supreme Court to support their right to ban homosexuals from their ranks. Yet, when they get what they have asked for, they start to whine and complain because so many organizations are now withdrawing their monetary support from the group.

Hey, when you choose to discriminate against an entire group of people, you had better be prepared to pay the consequences. After all, you can't have every thing you want. The Boy Scouts fought for their right to associate with those it deems fit; those who have withdrawn their financial backing from the group are simply exercising that very same right.

- Roland E. Zwick

Santa Clarita 

Of course not

I've heard so much about gay men wanting to be BSA troop leaders. Would you allow a pack of 30 fifteen-year-old Girl Scouts to be led into the forest for a camping event by a 24-year-old heterosexual male?

Of course you wouldn't. The propensity for illegal sexual contact is obvious. That's why no one who wasn't ``nuts'' would allow their son to go camping with a gay man. To allow gay men to lead Boy Scouts would immediately destroy the organization, permanently. The lawsuits would be huge.

- Allen Elwood

San Fernando 

Millions for defense

Re ``Settlement likely in robber's death'' (Sept. 2):

Are you kidding me? They are going to settle with the family of North Hollywood's Bank of America bank robber? I always thought that getting shot and possibly killed was part of doing business.

I would rather see the city spend millions defending their actions than give a penny to the robber's family and in particular, to their attorneys.

Only in America are the rights of the guilty greater than the rights of the innocent.

- Kurt C. Sloman

Van Nuys

Nader overlooked

Re ``Bush challenges Gore to own slate of debates,'' (Sept. 4):

Gore is quoted thusly on the issue of debates, ``it's about . . . giving the American people the chance they deserve to make an informed judgment as to who they want to be the next president.'' Yet Ralph Nader, a candidate with a legitimate voice genuinely differing from the favored sons, finds himself blocked from these debates.

Gore quixotically called the debates ``a bipartisan, nonpartisan tradition.'' If it were really nonpartisan, the door would be opened. Polling shows a majority of Americans would like to see Nader involved. Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura was polling at 8 percent before his debates, and he took the election by surprise. Denying Nader the chance to voice his views beside Bush and Gore denies Americans their rightful look at a legitimate, truly alternative viewpoint.

- Paul Guiles

- North Hollywood

Presidential debates

Re ``Bush debate ploy,'' (Public Forum, Sept. 7):

Apparently Ed Shifres doesn't get it. Al Gore agreed to debate George W. Bush anywhere, anytime. It was Al Gore who challenged Bush to a debate on the Larry King show and then Al Gore backed down, not George W. Bush. If Al thinks he can wipe the floor with Bush, why not agree to every debate, in every venue? No doubt the liberal media will jump at the chance to publicize Bush being trashed by Gore.

Ed might also note that Clinton did not agree to all presidential commission-style debates (What are those anyway?) in his previous elections. Where was Ed's outrage then? Was Clinton a chicken?

- Eric E. Dresser

Burbank

Show us results

Regarding the Jerry Lewis telethon which this year raised $54.6 million, last year $53.1 million: That's $107.7 million raised in two years, and it has been going on for 35 years.

Where is the cure? What advances have been made? Where is all of this money going? What are the results?

- Pat Miller

Montrose

Military spendthrifts

Re ``Defensive Posturing'' (Opinion, Sept. 6):

Ivan Eland is right when he says ``the already bloated U.S. military budget could be reduced significantly without excessively stressing the armed forces. . . .'' Historically, we demobilize after our enemies have been conquered, yet we are funding massive weapons systems with no strategic value. This year, we'll spend $280 billion on the military - nearly the same as when the Cold War was at its peak. That's more than is spent by the next seven countries in the world combined. It's nine times what children's health care gets, and 50 times what Head Start gets.

We should cut military spending one-third - by $100 billion a year. Use the money saved for urgent needs here at home. We should bring the troops home from Western Europe and East Asia. We should move from military to domestic productions without causing unemployment; there are more jobs in consumer production than in making missiles and bombs.

- Al Sheahen

Sherman Oaks

A higher morality

Jack Ashby, in his letter ``Right and wrong'' (Public Forum, Sept. 3), points out that unbelievers know that stealing and adultery and murder are wrong ``without having blind faith in a supreme being'' to tell them so. That is right. It is called the ``natural law'' which is ingrained into every man and woman from birth. It is recognized in the Bible, and Paul comments on it (Romans 2:14).

But when Lieberman warned us ``never to indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion,'' he spoke of a morality that included much, much more than merely obeying some of the Ten Commandments. He spoke of a morality in which caring for your fellow man, (i.e. feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking care of the sick and the aged), is required. It is required of everyone, not just for some who propose it for selfish reasons like getting elected.

- George Noonan

Sylmar

Little or nothing

A 25 percent increase in rent is outrageous considering how low inflation is. My heart goes out to Thomas Nave and his family. I'd like to let him know that he's not alone. I also live in a rent control-exempt apartment. I have also had my rent jump up in outrageous increments, and what's worse, my landlord rents the same apartment to new tenants for substantially less.

This is rent gouging in its purest form. The market value of a rental unit is the price agreed to by a willing buyer and seller. That is the net price offered to and accepted by new tenants. Not what a landlord insists it is. Let's face it, some landlords abuse their economic power by using moving costs to leverage higher-than-market rental incomes. So what is the L.A. Housing Department doing to help? I'll tell you what: little or nothing.

- Don Katona

Northridge

You try it

Re ``Not another program,'' (Public Forum, Sept. 3):

Bill Homan seems typical of many people you hear espousing the ``Let them eat cake'' philosophy. Bill's got a problem with a disabled person ``complaining'' about the incredibly high, uncontrolled rent he has to satisfy with his meager disability allowance.

This gave me a great idea for a reality program along the lines of ``Survivor.'' First, we move Bill into a non-rent-controlled apartment. Then we break Bill's legs and raise the rent. Then we give Bill a jar of peanut butter, and when that's not enough, we'll see who Bill goes to for help. Maybe we'll all be enlightened, but I doubt it.

- Todd Ravel

Sherman Oaks

Special SUV licenses

Re ``Special SUV license,'' (Aug. 5):

I totally agree with Sion Colvin, whose letter stated, ``Truck drivers require special licenses to drive their vehicles. An SUV owner should also be required to pass special written and driving tests.'' One of the fears I have driving our highways and freeways is the careless driving habits and constant tailgating by many drivers of those ponderous vehicles. My fear of SUVs materialized two weeks ago, when a big SUV pickup truck rear-ended my car at high speed. The great weight of that vehicle and its high front bumper, which acted like a battering ram, inflicted $5,000 damage to my car as well as very painful injuries to myself. The SUV had only superficial damage to its front bumper.

One of my present concerns is for the drivers of small economy cars who might collide with those huge and weighty SUVs. Had I been driving my wife's small car and been rammed by that SUV, I could have been killed or mangled by that ``sport utility tank.''

- Larry Stone

Valley Village

Why speed limits

I must have been out of town when it was announced that the posted speed limits now mean minimum rather than maximum. You want excitement? Watch drivers race for the stop lights - like runners dashing for the finish tape. It's commonplace to see dozens of speed demons bunched up at stop lights, having consumed excessive gasoline, tire treads and brake linings.

Perhaps we should eliminate all speed limits. Everybody ignores them. We could save the millions of dollars on speed-limit signs, thousands of traffic officers and thousands of court cases.

- Fred Coble 

North Hills