Letters

THE ONE AND ONLY

"Michael Jordan is the only player today whom my grandchildren will be telling their grandchildren about." MARC ROSBERGER Denville, N.J.

It was a glorious moment in the annals of sports history when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA championship [MICHAEL JORDAN: THE END OF THE LINE?, June 22]. I haven't always been an avid Jordan fan. I once thought he was overpaid, that nobody was that good. But no more. He's turned playing basketball into an art form. He is the Lord of the Hardwood Floor, a unique athlete and classy human being. We've seen basketball played with perfection by the greatest player ever. JOHN L. HORTON Norfolk, Va.

I'll be damned if I'm going to idolize someone who gets paid millions of dollars just because he's got a good jump shot. You made Jordan out to be the equivalent of Mahatma Gandhi, when all he has done is play a game well. SAM JONES, age 17 Tampa, Fla.

Here is a man who is probably more admired by young people worldwide than any other person, yet his primary message is selling expensive basketball shoes and other products that he has endorsed. Just imagine if Jordan were to devote his off-the-court efforts to sending a positive message to kids: Don't use drugs. Work hard in school. Respect your parents. Jordan has a unique opportunity to have a long-term impact on the development of the younger generation, and he's shooting an air ball. BOB GOOSMANN Sacramento, Calif.

"His Airness" is a tiger on the court: all flowing power, amazing grace and indomitable will. Off the court, he is warm and comports himself with dignity and style, keeping a bit of mystery about himself. Because he doesn't engage in the excesses and on- and off-court buffoonery of teammate Dennis Rodman, you say he is bland. Jordan is one of the greatest personalities of this or any other century. Millions of fans watch him mesmerized for one reason: the force of his presence holds us. WILLIAM J. DEMORASCKI Glendale, Ariz.

Jordan has helped redefine the art of basketball the same way that Michelangelo changed painting and Mozart reinvented music. He has brought his art to the hearts and minds of the world. STEPHEN LANZA Jacksonville, Fla.

I am sick of Jordan. For goodness' sake, he is not Mother Teresa. He is made out to be such an all-American good guy, when he is just another egocentric professional athlete. ROBERT LIEBMANN Scottsdale, Ariz.

CONSERVATIVES' PRIVATE WAR

Your story on Judicial Watch head Larry Klayman showed just how messed up some attorneys in the U.S. are [NATION, June 22]. I guess Klayman thinks he is a very tenacious lawyer, but anyone who is suing his mother for $40,000, which Klayman says is owed him for nursing care for his late grandmother, must be "off his rocker," as one critic claimed. I'm a conservative, and I have no problem with people trying to keep the Clinton folk in line, but Klayman does not merit the limelight. LARRY CURTIS Mesa, Ariz.

Klayman, Kenneth Starr and co. can try all they want to curb Clinton's effectiveness, but the President is the Michael Jordan of politics: the more adversity he faces, the more he scores. His leadership has given the country its best time in decades, detractors notwithstanding. Go for it, Mr. President, and give us another slam dunk! LUCIEN LECOMTE Los Angeles

THAT ANTI-CLINTON GLEE

Your chart showing Richard Mellon Scaife's support of various conservative causes [NATION, June 22] mentioned the political biography I wrote on the President, Boy Clinton. I must protest your description of it as an "attack book." That sounds terribly grim. Far more accurate was your reference a few months back to the American Spectator as a "gleefully anti-Clinton magazine" [Nation, April 13]. That captured the spirit. Somehow, political ineptitude can be as amusing as it is dismaying. R. EMMETT TYRRELL JR., Editor in Chief American Spectator Arlington, Va.

I feel sorry for you, Richard Mellon Scaife. You are squandering your money on a constellation of devious schemes intended to sabotage the politics and people who do not please you. Nice try, wrong country. You and your Machiavellian ambitions would be right at home in any Third World country run by a dictator. There you could hand out lighter pay envelopes to much cruder henchmen to do your bidding. MEL ZALOUDEK River Grove, Ill.

ISLAND OF ANXIETY

I want President Clinton and all Americans to acknowledge the differences between Taiwan and China and know that Taiwanese are not Chinese citizens [WORLD, June 22]. It is pointless to ignore the fact that Taiwan is its own sovereign nation and should never be a part of China. The U.S. should recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. It should be able successfully to maintain and foster diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan, while acknowledging that they are two distinct countries with separate governments. KENNETH M. YU New York City

If China decides to take Taiwan by force, the U.S. will inevitably be involved. Taiwan does not want to become a U.S. responsibility, nor does it want to be sacrificed to the U.S.'s need to improve its relationship with China. Any step toward reunification with China should be decided by people in Taiwan, not by China or the U.S. HUI-CHING YU Lubbock, Texas

Taiwan is largely America's child, conceived and nurtured during the cold war but later politically abandoned in favor of the People's Republic of China. Taiwan has one of the few political systems that have moved from authoritarian to democratic government without revolution or bloodshed. Perhaps a military confrontation between Beijing and Taipei can be avoided, but if not, the U.S. may be forced to play a more active role. JOSEPH F. INNIS Sedona, Ariz.

The People's Republic of China is the world's largest communist country with the most unrepentant authoritarian regime. Nobody should wish Chinese annexation on Taiwan. The hard-won democracy of Taiwan deserves the support of the U.S. If the Taiwanese people choose independence, their wishes should be respected. BOB IN-YU YANG Shawnee Mission, Kans.

AND NOW CRANK

Your story about the use of crank, or methamphetamine, in Billings, Mont., was very personal for me [NATION, June 22]. I am the father of "Paula," a young former addict whom you included in your report. Not only does crank ruin the users, it can also devastate everyone around them. Paula's mother and I spent nearly every waking moment for more than a year seeking help everywhere we could think of. Schools, hospitals and the police told us to go elsewhere. Paula finally realized that her addiction was eventually going to kill all of us, and on her own, she went for treatment. Drug usage continues to flourish in communities like Billings because nobody will take responsibility for the problem, but it is everybody's battle. Until everyone pulls together to fight drug use, it will only get worse. Name Withheld by Request Billings, Mont.

I am a filmmaker who has spent the past 28 months making a documentary on five long-term crank users in Los Angeles. As a rule, these addicts are bright, entrepreneurial, artistic, independent-minded, hopeful, spiritually oriented and profoundly alienated. All my subjects carry a burden of shame and deep-seated self-loathing. All cite profound loneliness, frustration, depression, anxiety and hopelessness as major factors implicated in using crank. They say they are medicating themselves. ANDREW ABRAMS, Chairman WorldView Foundation Sunland, Calif.

CLARIFICATIONS

The report on the use of crank in Billings, Mont. [NATION, June 22], included a photograph of a popular disco where TIME's photographer was offered drugs. We did not mean to imply that any of the people shown in the picture had knowledge of or were involved in the purchase or use of drugs.

Our story "Starr's fellow traveler" [NATION, June 22] said that information about Linda Tripp's background, published in the New Yorker and obtained from the office of Pentagon public affairs chief Kenneth Bacon, had been released in violation of the federal Privacy Act. No government agency or other authority has determined that the Privacy Act was violated by this action. Some legal authorities maintain that the Freedom of Information Act could authorize or require the disclosure.

CORRECTION

Our item "Download A Best Seller" [PERSONAL TIME, YOUR TECHNOLOGY, June 22] misidentified the company that produces electronic books that can be downloaded from its website onto a special unit with a built-in modem. The correct name is SoftBook Press Inc. Its website is www.softbookpress.com