_______________ARE THERE STAINED DRESSES IN THE GOP'S CLOSET? BY JOE CONASON (08/03/98)
	I can appreciate the moral high ground that is urged now upon Democrats, so that they not reveal the sordid details of their opponents' sex lives. However, it seems to me that the toothpaste is already out of the tube. Starr and his GOP supporters, along with the armies of the media, have turned national news coverage into "Hard Copy." No titillating detail is deemed too sordid or too irrelevant to be denied extensive coverage. Five years ago, who among us would have thought that "blow job," "come stain," "scumbag" and other choice words would become routine terms in our political debate? I think it is time for us to see what, as William S. Burroughs once wrote, "is on the end of everyone's fork." Let us now see who in the GOP has been f---ing whom. The GOP has worked these long months for this final denouement. To hold back now is nothing but political coitus interruptus. -- John Dougherty As an avid conservative I appreciate your site as an honestly liberal voice on the Net. And honesty is a quality usually found in your columnists, but I do have to take exception to Joe Conason's most recent column. The column should probably have been prefaced with: "I wish that ..." Believe it or not, we right-wing loony religious fanatics actually practice what we believe. Sure, bring up Bob Packwood or criticize Dole and Gingrich for being divorced, but I dare you to find a high Republican with problems remotely close to Clinton's. I could care less if Clinton forced perjury, and I think it would harm the country if he was impeached, but we know that he had some sort of sexual relationship with a girl barely six years older than his daughter. I know it must be upsetting to have your apparent savior turn out to be a slut, but please do not claim that the Republicans have the same ghosts in their closets. In our closets you may find Bibles and shotguns, but certainly not "just-legal" affairs. Any such claims are your hopes and wishes, but certainly not the truth. -- Glenn Janik Like every other Clinton sycophant, Joe Conason is (most likely) consciously lying about the issue (so to speak). It doesn't matter if Bill Clinton lied about reading the Psalms with Monica, and then getting her on her knees to pray with him. The issue is perjury and obstruction of justice. If the accusations are true (and no honest person denies it), Bill Clinton is a felon. Not because Monica went down on him in the Oval Office (who cares?), but because he committed perjury and, almost certainly, obstruction of justice. Oh, gawd: I'm sure Sidney Blumenthal's lawyers are already opening a file on me. -- Kenneth Craycraft
_______________THE ECONOMY OF FAKE FAT BY HEATHER CHAPLIN (07/31/98)
	Olestra is the best thing ever to happen to Michael Jacobson and Center for Science in the Public Interest. He has been able to keep his name in the media, raise money and hold a megacorporation hostage, all based on nothing. Jacobson misrepresents scientific studies to accomplish these goals. For example, he has justified putting that disturbing label on Olestra products based on a certain percentage of people's having these symptoms after eating Olean. He neglects to mention it is the same percentage as in those who do not eat Olean. His claims that some people got upset stomachs eating Olestra are based on a study where people were fed the stuff breakfast, lunch and dinner for eight weeks. If I ate fatty food three meals a day for just one week, I would definitely be sick. There is no scientific evidence that Olean does all these horrible things when consumed like we consume it. In fact, there is a peer-reviewed article in Journal of the American Medical Association contradicting Jacobson's claim. And when/if it is proven that low carotenoids cause cancer, Procter & Gamble can supplement its product with carotenoids. Unfortunately, there is still a mix of scientific opinion on carotenoids. So why do Salon and Heather Chaplin give Jacobson a platform to try to enhance his image by creating a food scare? If I wanted to read pseudoscience, I can go elsewhere. The article was not up to Salon's usual standard of providing informative articles that flout conventional wisdom. -- Winston Edwards Silver Spring, Md. When Procter & Gamble introduced Frito Lay WOW chips to the people of Indianapolis early last year, the company wrapped at least one Kroger supermarket in yellow plastic to resemble the product packaging. A sensible precaution considering the reported side effects. At a supermarket trade show in Chicago in May 1997, P&G pushers wearing disposable WOW baseball jackets and matching caps handed out samples of the product to passersby. When I declined the sample, citing my reluctance to eat something said to cause "anal leakage" and "fecal urgency," the pusher suggested that as an "informed professional" I would want to "decide for (my)self." Suffice it to say, I enjoyed your article, although I am disappointed that you passed up an opportunity to gore the recent print ads for Olestra. In case you missed it, there's a farmer out in his field talking about how "folks 'round here" don't rush out to try the latest thing "whether it's a combine or a new cooking oil." "But when I heard it was made by the Crisco people out of soybeans like the kind I grow here ..." This was the most unabashedly horseshit thing I'd heard until Linda Tripp tried out that line about "I am just like you" the other day. -- Brian Berger Washington SALON | Aug. 6, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| SINS OF THE FATHERS BY ROS DAVIDSON

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