Letters

The Big Deal

"With the merger of America Online and Time Warner, it would appear that the millipede of the millennium has been created." JOHN FLICK Rockford, Ill.

I respect the corporate values expressed by TIME's Norman Pearlstine and Walter Isaacson in their letter to readers about the merger of TIME's parent company with America Online [AOL-TIME WARNER MERGER, Jan. 24]. In this day of corporate mergers and acquisitions, I believe compatible corporate values make for a successful marriage. I am not familiar with AOL's values, yet I do have the perception that AOL is strongly oriented toward customer service. How else could this online provider grow so rapidly? As a longtime subscriber to TIME, I am impressed by its quality of journalism and fairness in coverage. I am sure your staff will keep up the good work. RICHARD MORRIS Redmond, Wash.

A few years ago, you could read a newspaper, page through a weekly newsmagazine and watch an evening news program and thereby receive separate, incisive and differing reports on topical subjects. Shortly, you will read TIME, watch CNN and be able to browse AOL's sites. But you will undoubtedly get the feeling you are digesting the same rehashed, bland and insipid "content." The rush to fill Internet bandwidth has dumbed down our media fare. The "new media" have made everything equal to one (and the same). How boring! FRANK KUBICEK New York City

Did you expect me to read your story on the AOL-Time Warner merger without thinking about a conflict of interest? Give me a break! I'm expected to praise this great union, but all I can say is, "Hello, Big Brother!" DONALD J. RITTER St. Louis Park, Minn.

The merger is the largest Y2K threat yet to emerge. This so-called legal consolidation taking place right before our eyes illustrates just how arrogant corporate America has become in its quest to control communication to all. BRAD HUNT Crested Butte, Colo.

Now that Time Warner and AOL have joined forces, does that mean I won't be able to get my TIME magazine at peak demand times? STEVEN GUICHARD Olympia, Wash.

Questions About Bush

Your report on George W. Bush's presidential campaign, "Bush Bears Down" [NATION, Jan. 24], politely downplayed a suspicion many voters have about the Texas Governor's ability to think for himself. A President must be able to decide independently what course of action to take when issues are complex. Is Bush up to this? Your article does not answer these questions. DAVID ALTSCHULER Orlando, Fla.

Writers Take Aim at Writers

Roger Rosenblatt's piece "why writers Attack Writers" [ESSAY, Jan. 24] should be compulsory reading for all writers! Especially poignant was the statement "Attack writing is personal and seeks to do personal injury." How true. This type of exchange is analogous to opposing attorneys battling a case in court. Each makes a lethal effort, regardless of the damage, to discredit the other and his witnesses. MIKE VINSON McMinnville, Tenn.

I don't always cotton to Rosenblatt, but his ruminations on the "dainty violence" writers visit upon one another were delicious! Even the sainted American novelist Flannery O'Connor could not resist taking part in the intramural sport. Asked if she thought universities "stifle writers," O'Connor replied, "Not enough of them." CLARE MEAD ROSEN Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Don't writers like Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, John Updike and Gore Vidal know how transparent and boring they are in launching their bruised-ego slurs against others in their field? There is plenty of room on this planet for all great writers to reap their monetary and psychological rewards without resorting to such laughable tactics. DALE N. WICKLIFFE Phoenix, Ariz.

Will John Paul II Retire?

In the article about the possibility that the Pope might step down [RELIGION, Jan. 24], you mentioned that in Dante's poem Inferno, Pope Celestine V was assigned to Hell for voluntarily abdicating. You suggested that this condemnation was in some way mitigated by the fact that Celestine was placed "only in the first circle of Hell: Limbo." In fact, many translators label Celestine's place in Hell "the antechamber," and (to Dante, anyway) Celestine resides among the most despised souls. CHRISTIAN TALBOT New York City

Using novelist Andrew Greeley as a commentator on the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church makes as much sense as naming Madonna as the spokesperson for Celibates of America. MAIA WOJCIECHOWSKA Garfield, N.J.