_______________ ASK CAMILLE: THE USES AND ABUSES OF CHELSEA CLINTON BY CAMILLE PAGLIA (02/18/98)

While I appreciate that Ms. Paglia has carved out a career as a "shock columnist," her recent missive about Chelsea Clinton went way beyond the bounds of what any respectable publication should print. My esteem for Salon has diminished sharply. "quasi-incestuous physical displays" "looked shockingly like a war refugee (a spitting image of the awkward, homely, reclusive Emily Dickinson)" "Does anyone seriously believe that a freshman girl with Chelsea's looks could normally have snagged a campus dreamboat of this rank?" Abuse, indeed. What gives Ms. Paglia the right to spew such venom at a teenager? She should go pick on someone her own size, and Salon Magazine should apologize to Ms. Clinton for running this article. -- Marceline Therrien One piece of advice for Camille: Pick a subject and go with it. Stop trying to dazzle us with everything you know (or think you know) and just answer the questions writers pose. I just finished reading her dizzying response to what was an asinine question to begin with -- a reader wanted to know why Chelsea Clinton wasn't publicly angry at her father for the Monica Lewinsky scandal (as if she's supposed to write some scathing op-ed in the New York Times about how damaged she is by her father's presidency). Camille's answer ran the gamut from bashing Clinton's foreign policy to criticizing the gay community's "Leave Chelsea Alone" T-shirts, to (once again) singing praises and hosannas to Madonna (Camille, are you on her payroll???) for commercializing the first photos of her baby Lourdes. As an example, one of the many details she overlooked in her tired tirade comparing the Clintons to the Reagans was in regard to family photo ops. When Ronald Reagan took office, his offspring were adults, but Chelsea Clinton was in junior high when her dad became president. Or do you just not like to let small facts like that get in the way of an idiotic comparison? Either get an editor to streamline Camille's answers or put the girl on medication for what seems to be Attention (to detail) Deficit Disorder. -- Rica Guarnieri It would be nice if you got rid of Camille Paglia. She doesn't say anything of substance: She just throws around Greek and Roman mythology terms, and then comes to the conclusion there is no way Chelsea Clinton could get an upper-classmen for a date just by her personality. I think this lady's columns are idiotic. She has a following of people who just like to use big words and figure everybody out. How about some enlightening columnists? -- Jason Popovits Dear Camille, You tell it as it really is. I'd love to see you come face to face with Stephanie (and Bey) on "Equal Time." But especially Stephanie. I'd break a date with Alec Baldwin to stay home and experience that dialogue. I just discovered Salon online tonight. Thanks. I'll be reading you often. -- Audrey Regan SALON | Feb. 19, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| GAYS IN MAINE BY DANIEL REITZ

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