Saving Chrysler

To the Editors: It is not just Lee Iacocca's brains, bluster and bravado that have turned Chrysler around [March 21]. The company is producing a product that meets our needs, a dependable, comfortable car that provides economical transportation.

H. Anthony Hodges Pittsburgh

Love him or hate him, Iacocca is the epitome of American entrepreneurship.

Michael J. Dunbar Dallas

I agree that it is dangerous for the Government to lend money to failing businesses. It is also impossible to specify the qualities an executive must possess in order to save a company. However, it is apparent that Iacocca has the unique combination of attributes that enables him to direct a comeback.

Ronald C. Garinger Paoli, Pa.

Aiding Chrysler, the weakest of the big three auto companies, penalizes those that are fitter and undermines the competitive principle. Darwin would not have approved of bailing out Chrysler.

John Russell Boston

Lee Iacocca and Ted Turner are the only stars who have appeared in American business in many years.

Jim Griffith Cincinnati

Your photograph of Walter P. Chrysler shows him posing in front of a 1932 Plymouth and not, as your caption says, a 1928 Plymouth.

Charles H. Windeknecht Closter, N.J.

I own a 1979 Aspen that has been nothing but a problem. Now every time Iacocca comes on the screen and invites us "to take our chances," my entire family hollers back, "Any chance is better than the one you gave us!"

Albert J. Clarke Wilton, N.Y.

Recently I purchased one of Iacocca's "babies." For 25 years I had one of the "other biggies' products." After shopping around, I found Chrysler's car and price, coupled with Iacocca's salesmanship, an unbeatable combination.

Edith Owen South Salem, N.Y.

Kissinger's Plan

I applaud the vigor and depth of Kissinger's arms control proposal [March 21]: his approach in which the U.S. should unilaterally implement a plan of its own even if the Soviet Union does not go along makes the U.S. the leader rather than the follower. More important, it shows the world that this country is committed to world peace.

Sondra Stewart Garland, Texas

A realistic and open-ended approach to nuclear strategy and arms control is essential if we are to avoid a disaster in the future. At the same time, we must guarantee our nation's security. Master Strategist Kissinger has offered such an approach in his analysis of the nuclear labyrinth. Our elected representatives in Congress should consider Kissinger's suggestions before embracing the simplistic approach of the nuclear freeze movement.

James M. White Jr. Wahiawa, Hawaii

The ultimate deterrent to nuclear war is to convince the Soviet leaders that if there is war their country will cease to exist. If this were our policy, we could concentrate on diversifying our weapons rather than emphasizing warheads and tonnage. We could also install a system ensuring that if the U.S. were wiped out, American missiles would rise from underwater or deep in the ground to destroy in two or three weeks vital areas of the Soviet Union.

Robert G. Worman Seminole, Fla.

Whatever merits Kissinger's individual proposals have, his overall scheme to halt the strategic arms race assumes that negotiations with the Soviets are possible. However, Ronald Reagan is making mutual talks impossible with his harsh rhetoric and hard line. The President would do well to remember that when international relations are approached in terms of absolutes, such as good and evil, discussion and compromise become dead concepts.

Jane Hathaway Austin, Texas

Defiant Nun

If our modern nuns like Sister Agnes Mansour [March 21] want to run the world, they ought to make it on their own and not on the back of the church. Now that they have given up the veil, they believe they can serve two masters.

Frank W. Cummiskey Columbia, Mo.

A hundred years from now, seminarians will continue to study heretical teachings like Jansenism of the 1600s. To that list will be added "Mansourism," a 20th century heresy that taught its adherents to place civil law above the Gospel.

(The Rev.) Kevin F. Lutz Associate Pastor, St. Mary Church Marion, Ohio

It has been 20 years since Vatican II. It is high time that nuns and priests cease experimenting and begin to honor their vows of obedience to the church. Those who will not should get out.

Gloria Lieu Detroit

When Pope John XXIII opened the window, he expected fresh air. Instead, he got a hurricane.

Pat Gilhooly Livonia, Mich.

Reagan the Divine

I find nothing wrong with the way President Reagan "mixed God and Government" [March 21]. After all, the President was speaking to the Evangelicals. When he appears at a business convention, he naturally focuses on economics. When he delivers the State of the Union speech, he talks about the nation. There is nothing improper about the President's allowing his religious beliefs to creep into a speech at an Evangelical meeting.

Daniel James Kunkel Madison, Wis.

Despite Hugh Sidey's acerbic disparagement of President Reagan's religious oratory, I found encouragement in the brief quotations from the speech. It is refreshing to see a man take a stand for truth and light.

Rod Nygaard College Station, Texas

President Reagan is of my generation and speaks my language. I do not always agree with him, but your implication that he was "playing politics" when he adopted a religious tone with the Evangelicals is insufferable. It is right that he should pray for what is important to him.

Florence Whitaker Gross Milwaukee

Hugh Sidey has never been better than in his story on "The Right Rev. Ronald Reagan." I have been a minister in the United Methodist Church for 40 years, and it pains me when my colleagues in the pulpit confuse the Gospel with political opinions and self-righteousness with justice. When the President of the U.S. falls into such blasphemy, my pain is compounded many times over.

(The Rev.) Vernon Bigler Buffalo

Reagan's sermonizing before the Evangelicals is a dangerous mix of electioneering hooey and religious claptrap. As Sidey makes clear in his story, the U.S. is a pluralistic nation whose impressive strength derives from its being an open marketplace for ideas and opinions. The country does not need to hear pious bray and howl from the occupant in the White House. It needs to have that marketplace responsibly guarded.

William Patrick Overson Narragansett, R.I.

The only thing I can add to your article is that President Reagan uses religion like a trolley car. He rides it only while it is going his way.

Fred C. Kosloske Santa Clara, Calif.

Pen in Hand

Your article on handwriting [March 21] reminded me of my grammar school days, when the Palmer method was introduced. I refused to do the exercises, claiming that we should not all write alike, an opinion I still hold. As a result of my steadfastness, I spent most of my time in the principal's office.

Ernestine Webster Jay Fort Wayne, Ind.

When I was transferred to St. John's Parish Day School last fall to begin fourth grade, I was incredulous that I had to learn italic writing. Thanks to your article, I now know why we practice this so endlessly. I am now doing fairly well, but on the first day I couldn't even get the ink to flow from the nib!

Chanta G. Hundley Tampa

Children should be allowed to write the way they want, provided it is neat and legible.

Chris Stacey Spokane, Wash.

Stop the Cameras

The filming of Cecil Andrews' tragic act of self-destruction [March 21] shows that people like to see others get hurt. Consider the excess of violence on television and in films. While TV-news leaders condemned the judgment of WHMA's news director, the major networks all showed portions of the tape that recorded a man setting himself on fire. The networks cannot resist satisfying the public's grisly appetite.

Glen Pelletier Toronto

In your article "When 'News' Is Almost a Crime," you were critical of the newsmen who filmed a man setting himself on fire. You are right. Why, then, did you print a picture of the man committing the act? You put yourself in the same boat as the erring newsmen.

Tarek T. Arja Tampa

Papal Peregrinations

Words, words and more words. These are all that the Pontiff offered the oppressed people of Central America during his recent visit to that region [March 14]. The only solace that John Paul II distributes to the impoverished peasant masses is an ideology that encourages acceptance of their generally miserable lot. Not until the Catholic Church in Latin America embraces the theology of liberation will it cease to be an obstacle to regional development and an instrument of the power elite.

Paul McCarthy Manotick, Ont.

The participation of the lower clergy in radical politics is not new. Because of their close contact with the common people, priests often find themselves obliged to act in support of the peasant's case. It must not be forgotten that the first armed rebellion against Spain, in 1810, started in a church courtyard in Dolores, Mexico. The leader was Father Miguel Hidalgo, who died before a royal firing squad. The insurrection ultimately succeeded when Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821.

Maria Eugenia Bonifaz de Novelo Ensenada, Mexico

Shultz's Style

I concur with your assessment of Secretary of State George Shultz as a man of outward calm and deliberate style. When members of the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce met with him during his recent trip to Hong Kong, we found him a man of opinion and strong feelings. He demonstrated a solid knowledge and understanding of the complexity of current trade problems and issues. His firm, direct and candid approach will ensure that U.S. interests are faithfully represented.

Robert E. Adams, Chairman Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce Hong Kong This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.