_______________RIGHT ON! BETTY FRIEDAN'S SECRET COMMUNIST PAST BY DAVID HOROWITZ (01/18/99)

David Horowitz asks why anyone would listen to a figure like Betty Friedan, with her communist background, but fails to answer the question of why anyone would choose to listen to him, a McCarthy apologist. Inherent in Horowitz's awkwardly written article is the tacit implication that any who suffer from an association to the long ineffective American Communist Party must be shunned along with their dirty liberal thoughts. This must come as a disappointment to those who enjoy the works of Albert Camus or W.E.B. DuBois. Perhaps we should run screaming from the TV set whenever the image of Lucille Ball presents itself to our easily offended eyes (Ball joined the Communist Party in the '30s, at the behest of her grandmother). Horowitz can't even get his facts straight, writing, "McCarthy's personal reign lasted but a year and a half." McCarthy made his original accusations July 20, 1950 (claiming to have a list of a great many "known Communists" employed by the State Department), while addressing a Republican women's club at Wheeling, W.Va. His witch hunt lasted for three and a half years, ending when the Senate voted to censure him Dec. 2, 1954. At least, that was the end of McCarthy's participation. McCarthy fans such as David Horowitz continue to carry the torch to this day. -- J. Kremer Lansing, Mich. Oh, my God! The millions of us who were so moved by Betty Friedan's commie-agent book about the "Problem With No Name" were secretly commie fellow travelers! She infiltrated and seduced us all! Would that the CIA, the FBI, Radio Free Europe or American advertising could be so effective. Oh misery, oh shame. And to think I left my violent, controlling husband after reading her book because he took all the money out of the bank --in the days when husbands even owned their wives' bodies, not to speak of all their property and money. (Actually, I read her momentous book just after leaving him, but hair-splitting is not appropriate at this late date.) To think I ever listened to her! Such shattering, devastating news. -- Joy Anne Kenworthy Madison, Wisc. I realize that striking an editorial balance is needed in any type of publication, but David Horowitz's latest monologue regarding Betty Friedan is stretching it. It would appear that Horowitz thinks that if you were somewhat outspoken (and listened to) against the "American way of life" that you are a Communist and therefore wrong. Well, maid or not, Friedan struck a chord with American women that is still being heard today. Her political beliefs are not at issue. "The Feminine Mystique" had influence because it was true. The same with Pete Seeger, Jane Fonda and Angela Davis. This is the land of the free, remember? If you want to be a Communist, it's OK. It would appear Horowitz is in denial. I'm sure there must be a 12-step program for McCarthyites somewhere, Mr. Horowitz, if that's your real name. -- Rich McIntosh Fremont, Calif. N E X T+P A G E+| More ways that "need sensitive" applicants get screwed