Lieberman for VP

Now that Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, has been selected for the Democratic presidential ticket (Aug. 8), can we expect morning press conferences to open with bagels and lox? Will Al Gore trade doing the Macarena for “Hava Nagila”?

As a Jewish American, I’m thrilled at this historic first. It took chutzpah for Gore to bring unprecedented diversity to this year’s election. But it was also a wise decision, given Lieberman’s impeccable character and moderate-to-progressive voting record.

Having taken the wind out of the GOP’s moral sails, it is a choice that will keep this campaign focused on the issues, a choice that I believe will pay off in November.

ROBIN WEITZ

Los Angeles

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So, Gore thinks by selecting Lieberman he is going to distance himself from the “sleazy” Clinton shadow. How disappointing that, instead of embracing the many positive accomplishments of Bill Clinton, he chooses a running mate whose claim to fame is that he was one of the first Democrats to chastise Clinton on his morals. Are we in the process of electing a priest or the next leader of the free world? What a gutless wonder Gore has turned out to be.

VARINI DE SILVA

Huntington Beach

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I have no quarrel with Lieberman. He is a decent man. But it seems clear that Gore chose his running mate to help him get elected. George W. Bush, on the other hand, chose his running mate to help him when elected.

WILLIAM S. LaSOR

Lake Forest

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Robert Scheer ascribes to the Clinton/Gore team the success of the American economy for the past eight years (Commentary, Aug. 8). What Scheer ignores is that the seeds of this success were planted during a Republican administration; that Clinton/Gore had the benefit of a Republican Congress; that they had the benefit of a chairman of the Fed appointed by a Republican president; and that the economy was primarily driven by the high-technology industry, over which neither Clinton nor Gore has any control.

As to Gore’s choice of a running mate: He needed a moral, ethical and honest candidate in order to balance the ticket.

CHARLES VORSANGER

Pasadena

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I was trying to figure out what Scheer’s main point was. Was it that Clinton has been a great president and unjustly maligned by some, like Lieberman, or that Hollywood has censored in the past and it’s good now that it doesn’t, or that people who want some guidance printed on movie and video game packaging are prudes? My comments to those would be that Clinton is a great president and his decisions regarding women other than Hillary were unfortunate. Second, Hollywood makes what it can sell, here and overseas.

Third, like knowing what ingredients are inside food packaging, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to know approximately how many big-breasted, scantily clad women I am going to encounter in a video game or movie. Call me prudent.

LIBBY BREEN

Altadena

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There really must be a Blue Fairy--the wooden boy just got his Jiminy Cricket!

MORGAN McPHERSON

Los Angeles