PUBLIC FORUM.

Mayor's moral fiber

Re "Other woman in the mayor's life revealed" (July 3):

The fact that Antonio and Corina are divorcing is of no consequence in today's world. However, the facts that in 1994, while his wife was undergoing thyroid cancer treatment, he left town with the wife of a close friend and that for months he publicly denied having his present affair and only admitted it because it was going to be made public, do address the issue of the mayor's moral fiber, which is of concern to us, something that should be borne in mind the next time he runs for any office.

-- Jason Miranda Levi

Northridge

Villaraigosa the cat

Re "Villaraigosa defends relationship" (July 4):

A strong mayor must have the reflexes of a jungle cat. He must keep his eyes on the prize -- that being our city. I'm afraid he's the wrong kind of cat for our city. What we ended up with is a cat all right; we got a "chee-tah"!

-- Ron Sellz

Chatsworth

Commuting Scooter

I thank President Bush for commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby. He should have gone all the way, but in this market we take what we can get. The real culprit in this Valerie Plame business was the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, who knew from the beginning that Libby committed no crime, then held him accountable for not remembering the details of the crime he did not commit.

You cannot cover up what you didn't do, and Fitzgerald knew Libby did not commit a cover-up. Since his crime didn't exist, how could he be convicted of lying about that crime? Fitzgerald should be prosecuted and jailed -- or at least lose his position of power in the judicial system.

-- Bob Sharp

Arleta

Respect yourself

Re "Villaraigosa defends relationship" (July 4):

Isn't it just a bit hypocritical for the mayor to ask us to respect his family members' privacy when he has shown them so little respect himself?

-- Marshall Barth

Encino

Private and public

Re "Villaraigosa defends relationship" (July 4):

Interesting that Antonio Vilar -- later Villaraigosa -- says what he does in private has nothing to do with his public life. The mentality is sorta like Rocky's. It shows what a sneak and liar he is and reflects on all aspects of his life.

-- Martha Ballardo

La Crescenta

Political action

Re "Other woman in the mayor's life revealed" (July 3):

You have to hand it to the mayor for timing. He waits for the president to demonstrate what the Bush administration has been doing to the judicial system through the Libby commutation, and the next day the mayor admits he is taking similar action with the local Channel 52 reporter.

-- Ed Kaz 

Oak Park

Sans grin

Re "Other woman in the mayor's life revealed" (July 3):

Here's something the citizens of Los Angeles might have to face, the mayor changing his name to "Villarsalinas" and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on reprinting the city stationery.

At least we got a chance to see him talking to the press without that stupid grin on his face.

-- Paul Nolan

Santa Clarita 

You got it backward

Re "What does this country mean to you?" (July 4):

This was a nice article to take up the front page of your July 4 newspaper. It had me thinking about what America means to me. Then I noticed the picture of our flag on the page. It's backward!

I know Bush and Cheney think it's OK for American troops in Iraq to wear the flag backward on their uniforms, but your newspaper and respectful Americans should do it right.

-- Karl Trinkley

Newhall

Recognizing Rosie

Re "Rosie ain't riveting" (Your Opinions, July 1):

Dink O'Neal's amateur psychiatric diagnosis of Rosie O'Donnell arguably constitutes libel per se. On the other hand, although Rosie is no runway model, she does have the courage and personal integrity to champion unpopular issues and to speak truth to power.

She was the only voice on daytime television who dared question the official conspiracy theory on 9-11 -- the one documented in the 500-page lie called the 9-11 Commission Report, even as fanatical commentators on "Faux News" were calling her a traitor, day after day, for her honesty. It is unfortunate that she left "The View" three weeks early.

-- William West

Reseda

Coming up next ...

Regarding the normal order of things being done by the current Bush administration: Isn't now the time for Scooter Libby to be awarded the Medal of Freedom?

-- Richard Martin

Burbank

Pogo wisdom

Re "Is Congress irrelevant?" (Our Opinions, July 3):

What a country! A majority of voters elects Congress but only 14 percent of the people approve of what they're doing. Reminds me of what Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and it is us."

-- Joe Dunn

Burbank