Letters: Nov. 17, 1967

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Sir: I quote from a letter I received from France: "Part of the problem seems to be that Americans, on all levels, equate license and liberty" and "It becomes increasingly distasteful to acknowledge, as the leader of the free world, a nation where the intelligentsia, including representatives of the church and the guardians of justice, advocate disregard for the respect of law and order without which no civilized life is possible." The writer is 22 and a student at the Sorbonne. (MRS.) A. M. VARDALA Bronxville, N.Y.

The Baloney & the Grinder

Sir: Many thanks for your generous cover story on William F. Buckley Jr. [Nov. 3]. It is appropriate that the man most responsible for engendering the current conservative revival should be so feted. As a college student I can testify to Mr. Buckley's enormous influence on campus. For those of us who are conservatives his example is especially cogent; so cogent in fact as to inspire a respect, adulation, and affection for him that is oftentimes scandalously near idolatry.

Buckley has shown us that ideological welfare can indeed be fun. In fact, I must concede in part TIME'S point that victory and power are not all that desirable. For young conservatives, as well as for Bill Buckley, adversity is a rather blessed state. JAMES C. ROBERTS Oxford, Ohio

Sir: William Buckley is the most deserving candidate for the title of Mr. Marie Antoinette. FRED CICETTI Mt. Tabor, NJ.

Sir: Conscientious conservatives and literate liberals rejoice. DAVID F. REA Manhattan

Sir: The art of perverting the truth was not invented by Buckley but by the cynical school of Sophists thousands of years ago. Any fool can learn the rules, and if followed by a parrot, he could appear as a wise old bird to the child-brained. ALFRED FABRE Casa Grande, Ariz.

Sir: The large number of liberals that surround William Buckley is not surprising. It merely demonstrates that an articulate, logical representation of conservative positions will often confound liberals. They befriend Buckley in the way that the vanquished befriend the conqueror. GREGORY G. SCHMIDT Urbana, Ill.

Sir: He is a supercilious mountebank operating as a false-front intellectual, and wholly dependent for effect upon his unquestioned virtuosity as a gesticulator with hands, face and words. ARNOLD B. LARSON Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Sir: It is a shame that the Republican Party refuses to recognize a man who possesses personality and conviction. Perhaps after the G.O.P. blows its chances in 1968 with a ho-hum compromise candidate, someone in the party hierarchy will see the light. It would be a pleasure to see Mr. Buckley take on Bobby Kennedy in 1972: then there would be no way for the baloney to reject the grinder. RICHARD KRASKA Providence

The Hair of the Sheep

Sir: As a sheepman of sorts, I must comment on your suggestion that Bobby Kennedy may resemble a sheep [Oct. 27]. Sheep breeders have known for some time that open-faced sheep are more productive than those with wool over their eyes. Indeed, Bobby might be more useful if he could see more clearly. KEITH INSKEEP Morgantown, W. Va.

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