Correspondence

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 13, 1999

Women Are as Responsible as Men for Family Breakdown

I generally read Insight with interest and usually agree with its articles, but "Betrayal of the American Woman" by Suzanne Fields really irritated me [The Last Word, Nov. 15]. As a "stiff," 40-year-old white professional male and divorced father, I see a totally different world from hers.

Fields argues that "the real scandal is the increase of single-parent families, where mothers are abandoned by irresponsible husbands and fathers." But the current generation of single-parent families headed by women is a result of the breakdown of the nuclear family. Responsibility, morals and traditional family values are in many cases replaced by the current philosophy of immediate gratification. Women do not wish to compromise their personal goals for the benefit of the family unit today, let alone "submit" to their men without being subservient to them.

It is unfortunate that too many men today do not act properly or take responsibility for their obligations, but that doesn't provide women with a free pass.

Russ Condello Arlington, Texas

Elizabeth Dole's Real Problem Was Lack of Leadership

I was a fan of Elizabeth Dole, but your reasons for her demise as a viable presidential candidate were a little off the mark [Washington's Week, Nov. 15]. There is no doubt that money was a major factor, but what turned me off was her statement that she would be whatever the voters wanted her to be.

That is not the kind of inspired leadership we need.

Ken Kessler via the Internet

Problem of Y2K Compliance Should Be Cause for Concern

I was reading Insight's articles on Y2K compliance ["Will You Survive the Y2K Crisis?" and "Nations Hook Up to Weather Y2K," Nov. 22], and then the local news here reported that possibly as many as 50 percent of the 911 emergency telephone systems in the United States may not be ready for Y2K. My opinion always has been that the Y2K problem is something to be very concerned about. We live in a global economy and, even if the United States were 100 percent ready, there still would be tremendous problems simply because other nations may not be able to comply with "Y2K standards."

Andy Arnold Chattanooga, Tenn.

Clinton Should Be the First to Get the Anthrax Vaccination

President Clinton's executive order forcing military personnel to receive untested anthrax vaccines or be chucked out of the military will decimate our armed forces ["Clinton Orders Human Experiments," Nov. 15]. If our president has that much faith in an untested vaccine, then I think it is incumbent upon him as our commander in chief to be first in line for the shot to set an example for the skeptical troops under him. Let's put the coach in the game first, just to be sure it's okay.

Ralph A. Hostetler Loxahatchee, Fla.

Roosevelt, Not Churchill, Appeased Stalin in WWII

It is Paul Gottfried who has "Selective Remembrance of Post-Cold-War History" [Fair Comment, Nov. 8] when he claims that Winston Churchill "appeased Stalin during and after the war."

Not so. It was President Roosevelt who sided with Josef Stalin against Churchill at Yalta and gave away half of Europe to Russian occupation. At Roosevelt's elbow was one Harry Hopkins, who has been identified as "the most important of all wartime Soviet agents in the U.S." It was FDR, at Hopkins' urging, who gave away the store to his friend "Uncle Joe." Churchill was a warrior -- a commodity in short supply today and rarely appreciated in academia.

Richard S. Reade Setauket, N.Y.

Write: Insight, Correspondence Editor, 3600 New York Ave. N.E., Washington, DC 20002. E-mail: Insight@wt.infi.net. Fax: (202) 529-2484. Please include an address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for space.