_______________LEFT HOOK: A SILENT WIND BLOWS BY JOE CONASON (02/23/99)

Joe Conason's recent column was full of the usual left-wing name-calling and absence of facts, which is typical of Conason. Aside from his "troglodyte" epithet, a number of Republican leaders have spoken out against racism. Jack Kemp is well-known in this area. Ralph Reed denounced racism and started a new inner-city ministry while he worked with the Christian Coalition. Sen. Phil Gramm has denounced racism in the most intimate way possible: by marrying someone of another race. The Bush brothers have attacked racism in their respective states, and I could go on. If Conason had done his homework, he would have discovered that Reps. Lott and Barr have publicly condemned the Council of Conservative Citizens for its racism. (Civil libertarian columnist Nat Hentoff has discussed this in the Washington Post.) On the other hand, I don't recall Sen. Robert Byrd ever publicly denouncing the KKK after he quit that group, nor his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. -- Richard Mendoza Santa Ana, Calif. Somewhere near the middle of his advocacy of hate-crime legislation, Joe Conason states that President Clinton uses the symbolism of his office to fight racism. An interesting assertion. But while we're on the subject, I assume that Conason wasn't calling for hate-crime legislation when in January 1992 then-Gov. and presidential hopeful Bill Clinton presided over the execution of Ricky Ray Rector, a brain-damaged black man. Clinton bit his lower lip, let the switch drop and counted the votes. Now that was a hate crime. -- Sean A. Smith Monterey, Calif. Joe Conason poses the question: "Drafting a hate-crimes law that doesn't do violence to the First Amendment might indeed be difficult -- but isn't it worth the effort to try?" The Communications Decency Act and the Independent Counsel Statute are both examples of legislation where politicians did not take into account how mean-spirited and self-serving politicians can be. No amount of useless legislation would have saved James Byrd or changed the fact that hate crimes are a complex issue based on ignorance, fear and weakness. I suggest that Conason take a look at Salon's excellent interview with Larry Flynt and reconsider using the First Amendment as a legal beta test. -- Clay Niemann N E X T+P A G E+| Vibrators are NOT illegal in Alabama! Is Salon's credibility slipping?