"Can the president think?"… - readers' response to Reason's Nov. 1994 cover story - Letter to the Editor

Reason, March, 1995

If one flies high over the reader mail, both "Talk Back to REASON" postcards (mostly unsigned) and signed letters, one sees three broad and emotionally intense reactions. Readers were either passionately appreciative of vehemently bored or violently antagonistic. Here is the overview:

The Friendlies

From the postcards: "fascinating," "compelling," "VERY interesting!!!," "intelligent and edifying," "a most astounding piece," "superb article...A writing," "fantastic," "fantastic," "outstanding," "outstanding," "excellent," "brilliant," "splendid," "riveting...fascinating...superb," "should be mandatory reading for all citizens."

From the letters: "I...think REASON for Edith Efron's fine article," (Roy Hofschneider, Upland, CA); "superb article," (Manuel S. Klausner, Los Angeles, CA); "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for Edith Efron's article on Bill Clinton's mind," (Elizabeth Desilets, Malden, MA); "Edith Efron's fascinating and frightening analysis of Bill Clinton's 'cognitive disability' helps us to understand [him]. If he has an exaggerated need to please, is especially sensitive to criticism, has grandiose notions, has poor powers of introspection and is unable to hang on to the meaning of abstractions, we can better understand [his puzzling statements and behavior]," (Joan Mitchell Blumenthal, New York, NY); "Thanks so much for Edith Efron's study on the mental processes of Bill Clinton. Fascinating, and most instructive....It seems her article and Nathaniel Branden's Six Pillars of Self Esteem [reviewed in the same issue] are linked. Here we have a president who lacks a number of the necessary 'pillars' of self-esteem: cognitive confidence, accurate perception of self and reality, and such a need for other people's presence to validate his own existence that he cannot bear being alone with himself for even a few moments....He seems to obtain his self-hood from others (Peter Keating?), hungers for power over others (Ellsworth Toohey?) and cannot bear to learn the truth about who he is (James Taggart?). He concentrates on the pain of others to block out his own internal and personal pain (Philip Rearden?). He's a sad case, all right. Perhaps we should send him a copy of Branden's book, and set up a 31-day program for him? Nah...the last thing we want is an efficacious Clinton before November elections! Let's go to the polls and really make the man feel pain, by throwing every Clintonite out of office! Then we send him the book!" (Diane Joy Baker, Cincinnati, OH); "I appreciate Ms. Efron's effort in the presentation at removing the 'political issues' from any contention. It is my opinion she has largely succeeded. She has brought about a change in my feelings for Mr. Clinton; where once I detested him for what he was, approaching hate, I now have a tinge of sorrow for the man. Were he not in the position he is in, I would have a great deal of sympathy for him." (Harry J. Herder Jr., Hayward, WI)

The Bored

From the postcards: "It would have been 10 times better if it had been condensed into 2-3 pages," "It was good but it was too long," "too long and repetitious," "a bit long," "too repetitive," "much too long," "much too much precious space wasted; it could have been dealt with in a 4-5 page article," "way too long," "too long, not persuasive," "far too long, goes without saying."

From the letters: "I really think Efron is grasping at straws. While she did not say that our Prez was certifiably bonkers, she came close. I am sure if you judged former President Reagan under the same scrutiny (or Bush, even), you could piece together a case for ineptitude. On top of that, it was just plain dry reading. If I want to be barraged with such rhetoric, I can do my homework. I was bored halfway through." (Paul R. Hawley, Loma Linda, CA); "Whatever led you to devote 24 precious pages to Edith Efron's tedious and repetitively detailed psychological analysis of Bill Clinton's mind? She may have a point: Bill probably is nuts. But why take so much space to 'prove' it? I don't read REASON for its ironclad psychiatric diagnoses. It's political analysis I look for when I open each issue. For just a brief whiff of that, I had to slog through to the very last page of this vicious, issue-hogging article." (Shirlee A. Hoffman, Chicago, IL)

The Hostiles

From the postcards: "You print more garbage like this, I will cancel my subscription," "unenlightening psychobabble and just plain stupid," "S. I. Hayakawa is rolling in his grave at her unethical use of language," "one-sided...not fair to Clinton."

From the letters: "I just can't believe that you devoted 25 pages to the namecalling and mudslinging in November 1994's issue on Clinton. It was so mean-spirited that it spoke volumes about the author's mental state - and I was disappointed beyond words that the REASON editors chose to publish an article of such length from such a source." (Mary Fayer, Richland, WA); "Twenty-eight pages of Clinton bashing in the last issue is like eight hours of Rush Limbaugh....Sorry, after over 15 years as a subscriber, I can't take it any more. Please cancel my subscription and refund the remainder." (Harold Trautman, Portland, OR); "Please cancel my subscription immediately. REASON magazine, which I eagerly awaited for well over a decade, no longer exists. Your 24-page piece on Bill Clinton's mind is the most repugnant piece of 'journalism' since Barry Goldwater was psychoanalyzed in 1964....I must conclude that REASON wants to emulate the explosive circulation growth of rags like American Spectator. Tabloid journalism - the frenzied exploitation of fears and prejudices - is overwhelming American culture. So while I'm sure the gutter will bring you more readers, I will not be one of them." (Michael J. Hihn, CompuServe 76360,2063); "What were you all thinking when you published Edith Efron's article (dissertation)?...The stuff of Ms. Efron's article...is the conjecture-laden, paranoid, whiney, half-informed/half made-up drivel I can get from Rush Limbaugh every day for three hours (but choose not to)....Ms. Efron's article is so far from your mission of "Free Minds and Free Markets," and so much lower in research quality, and so petty in its tone, that if this is the editorial direction REASON is taking, I no longer wish to receive your magazine." (John Larkin, Washington, D.C.)