Champions & Critics

Sir: Congratulations on choosing L.B.J. Man of the Year [Jan. 5]. In sticking by the tough decisions, he has emerged as a leader among leaders and as a giant amongst the gnatlike swarms of his critics in the past year.

LEWIS A. FRANK

Washington, D.C.

Sir: Your Man of the Year is representative of all that was America in 1967--petty and grand tyranny, deceit, hate, corruption, militarism, violence of every sort, and the ulcerous pursuit of power and money. A splendid choice!

C. C. KIRKWOOD, '71

Indiana University

Bloomington

Sir: Brilliant satire.

G. J. WOZENA

Detroit

Sir: I didn't appreciate what a miserable year 1967 was, until I saw your choice for Man of the Year.

TOM KONDIS

Pittsburgh

Keeping the Shirt On

Sir: Whatever difficulties may arise between the governments of France and the U.S.A. [Dec. 29], I shall remain faithful to my many American friends. Even if some of your readers advocate a boycott of French products, I shall keep on wearing Arrow shirts, drinking bourbon and reading TIME magazine. I hope the plain people of our countries will not be carried away in an escalade of mistrust and retaliation.

CLEMENT TEMPELAERE

Saint-Cloud, France

Sir: Re "Le Grand Charles"--a suggested lapel button for American tourists to France: WHERE is ROBESPIERRE NOW THAT WE NEED HIM?

LEE HODGES JR., '69

JAMES E. EMBRY, '68

University of Texas

Austin

Hand from Home

Sir: If an Oscar existed for attempted extermination of a presidential candidate, your "Romney Goes to War" [Jan. 5], should receive top award. Granted that George Romney is not a shrewd, accomplished politician--but that may be to his advantage. Many of us in Michigan respect him as a sincere Governor with integrity whose outstanding performance in rescuing our state from financial chaos is a matter of record.

IRWIN O. SCHILLER

Bay City, Mich.

A Whiff of Grape

Sir: Your Essay "How America Drinks" [Dec. 29] was enlightening and encouraging to me as a nondrinker of the dry Baptist tradition, and a pastor at that. However, I'd like to be assured that "the average American knows how to handle his liquor" and his powerful car on a crowded highway as well. I'd like to see a freer social attitude so that some might choose to be nondrinkers without pressure by advertising and social custom to get with the crowd. Try to see my thoughts and beliefs as honest and objective and not in the fanatic class, some of whom have almost driven me to drink over the years.

(THE REV.) ALVIN D. JOHNSON

First Baptist Church

New Haven, Conn.

Sir: I suggest that history and a Higher Authority than the Council of Churches will determine whether a nation that spends $1.1 billion to celebrate Christ's birthday as a drinking occasion is sick rather than a sinner. As a father, a university faculty member and a human being concerned with the happiness and welfare of my fellow man, I prefer to remain "inappropriately abstinent."

RAYMOND B. TUCKER

Starkville, Miss.

Sir: Concerning the last section, "Inappropriate Abstinence," I beg leave to add a clarifying footnote. You state: "Publications of the Methodists, who long practiced or avowed total abstinence, now freely discuss such subjects as appropriate and inappropriate drinking--and appropriate and inappropriate abstinence." By implication, this appears to say that Methodist publications now sanction "appropriate drinking."

Though there have been frequent articles urging the study of the problem of drinking, to my knowledge no Methodist publication has ever counseled "appropriate drinking" or seriously challenged the "ethos of abstinence" that presently exists within the church membership. Methodists, together with many who are not Methodists, are alarmed by the uncritical acceptance of the use of alcoholic beverages in our highly mechanized and mobile society. For those who have voluntarily accepted "abstinence" as a way of responsible social behavior, we are grateful. We strongly urge others to consider this self-discipline as "highly appropriate."

(THE VERY REV.) JOHN WESLEY LORD

Methodist Bishop, Washington Area

Washington, D.C.

The Good Shepherds

Sir: I am outraged by the fact that your "Tragedy at Lynchburg" [Dec. 29] article totally neglected to put even the slightest blame for what happened on the owner of the German shepherd dogs. Dog ownership carries with it a responsibility not unlike that of parenthood, and since TIME was so careful to point out that latter responsibility in a recent Essay, how could you have failed to recognize that Mr. Ernest G. Floyd's irresponsibility was the true cause of this tragedy?

ROBERT KRAMER

Silver Spring, Md.

Sir: The German shepherd has served this country well in peace and war and he will survive this attack by you. I doubt that 100,000 of this nation's blind will turn on the companion who gives them guidance. Neither will the U.S. Army stop buying the shepherd to protect our soldiers in Viet Nam from the surprise onslaughts of the Viet Cong. Neither will I forget that a shepherd saved the life of my eldest son. Should I tell my little girl, aged 8, that she can't take our shepherd for a walk after school? Should I tell her that people, particularly strangers, are O.K., but fear her dog? I think not.

COBURN A. BUXTON

Brunonia Kennels

Dallas

Sir: Your article reveals a serious misunderstanding of how wolves behave. Wolves have been called the "gentle predators"; there is no authenticated case of a wolf killing a human being in North America. A newspaper editor once offered a reward for a verifiable wolf atrocity story. After ten fruitless years he remarked: "Any man who says he's been eaten by a wolf is a liar!"

SMITH FREEMAN

Cranbury, N.J.

Back They Go!

Sir: Your piece on "Quarantine for Moon Travelers" [Dec. 29] was interesting but it leaves one puzzling question: What if the astronauts do, indeed, bring back to earth a lunar plague against which scientists are helpless? The simple answer is to hoist the Lunar Receiving Lab--including astronauts, mice, scientists and Sears, Roebuck furnishings--atop a rocket and shoot the whole damn thing back into space and forget about it. Right? Right!

JACK LIND

Mill Valley, Calif.

Sir: After the moon, ersatz Early American? Don't our astronauts deserve something more than spending their isolation period in patchwork-quilt rocking chairs? Will there be ruffled organdy tiebacks at fake windows? And dainty little footstools? Words fail me.

E. JANE WILLS

Wilmington, Del.

Further Opinions

Sir: You are undoubtedly correct in calling Judge Tauro's decision upholding Massachusetts' antimarijuana laws "thoughtful and restrained." On the one hand he has clearly stated the only real reasons for objecting to the use of the drug; on the other hand he has demolished any legal case for prohibiting it. My understanding of criminal law is that it is for the protection of individuals from harm inflicted by others. Although Judge Tauro complains about marijuana's leading young people into "selfish withdrawal from society" or "escaping from their problems" he has yet to point out why such matters are any business of his, or of the legal system. It is evident that Judge Tauro does not think marijuana would be a good idea for his child; I would like to have the option under the law to decide that question for myself.

HARVEY PRUSSIN, '69

Yale College

New Haven, Conn.

Sir: What an asinine argument! Psychological dependence, indeed! How would his honor describe the relationship between the average businessman and alcohol? "Jesus, do I need a drink!" How many two-pack-a-day smokers try to quit and find themselves "nervous"? How many people "can't get started in the morning" without coffee?

MICHAEL McKAY

San Francisco

Sir: The opinion expressed by Tauro was of particular interest to me as a narcotics officer. It has been my experience that most marijuana arrestees are teenagers, influenced by press and peers, who try marijuana out of curiosity only to be trapped by its insidious euphoria and their own weakness. Further, they do progress to other narcotics and dangerous drugs. Our department's statistics indicate more than a 500% increase over last year in the number of juveniles arrested for narcotics and dangerous drug offenses.

DON TRUJILLO

San Jose, Calif.

Jeez, Now You've Done It

Sir: I am writing this in protest to your article pertaining to R & R in your Dec. 22 issue. I was urged to write this letter by my fellow soldiers here. We feel this article gave facts which would have been better left unsaid. Believe me, sir, not all of us go on R & R to indulge in the many sexual pleasures easily available here in the Far East. Our wives and parents will surely read your article, and they may get the wrong idea. We feel this article could endanger our R & R rights in the future. Surely if enough people write Congressmen and/or appeal to high levels of Army authority, we could lose the privilege of R & R. Each and every man looks forward to and counts the days until R & R.

I was shocked to see the picture of the two nude girls and the G.I. What purpose does it serve to print the price of a girl in Bangkok?

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not challenging the contents of the article, because all of your statements were entirely correct. It just seems to me that some of your facts were poorly chosen.

R & R is a sacred thing to us here. Just spend even six months in this Godforsaken den of evil and you too will want a well-earned R & R.

(PFC) BYRON MATSON

Long Binh, Viet Nam

Sir: After serving two years in Taiwan, I can appreciate your article on the previously little-known resort of Peitou. But may you die a thousand deaths for instigating the inevitable rise in prices and decline in service that accompany international recognition.

(SP5) ROBERT A. NEWBURY

8th RRFS

Viet Nam

Sir: Where can I get one of those Formosan tubs? My 50-year-old husband is getting ready to reenlist!

MRS. R. H. SMITH

Demarest, N.J.

Sir: My goodness! All peaceniks must be madly gluing their draft cards together!

JEAN S. SHOWALTER

Silver Spring, Md.

Sir: We Air Force wives would like to see some pictures of our 12% of the R & R program. The children would simply love to see Daddy dancing in a bar, taking a bath, or floating serenely across the Chao Phrayo River in a water taxi. Children here worry needlessly, it seems, about the safety of their fathers stationed in Southeast Asia.

(MRS.) JUDITH KAISER

Westover Air Force Base

Chicopee, Mass.

Picketing Rickles

Sir: Sorry to see you chicken put on Don Rickles [Dec. 29]. I believe this man, who you say looks like a torpedo, has been hit so many times that he has become a human missile. One day all the people who are now laughing at him nervously to keep him off the scent of the blood he has drawn, will turn on him and kill him.

CHRYSSA GUTHRIE

Chicago

Sir: Too bad you failed to say that he is an overbearing, overrated, overgrown catastrophe.

EVELYN PICKET

La Mesa, Calif.

The Rube Tube

Sir: Gosh dern, the only good thing on TV recently, Flanders and Swann [Dec. 29] and it was "too familiar to anyone who has seen it" on Broadway. Did you know that a majority of Americans have never been in New York? It's true, but we all feel real sorry for those few who might have had to watch them again. Those poor few are probably the Bonanza-lover types, anyway. There must have been a western they could have watched.

ANNE McCAY

Houston

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.