LETTER: CLINTON: TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Dear Editor:

In the words of a great American president, Ronald Reagan, "There he goes again!" As if Filegate, Whitewater, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, dodging the draft and admitting if he had to do it over, that YES he would inhale weren't enough to send "Bubba" back to Arkansas, now I see he's still making decisions before he thinks.

Three months before the crash of TWA Flight 800, Bill Clinton ordered nearly all of the x-ray explosive detectors available here in the U.S. shipped to Israel, leaving major American airports without high-tech security and open to terrorist attack.

In Israel, every major airport is now protected by the U.S.-made scanners that cost $1 million per unit. They were delivered without charge as part of a $100 million emergency anti-terrorist package from the Clinton administration.

The airport TWA Flight 800 took off from has had five scanners on order since the beginning of the year, but were put on a listing list until fall.

Now I see where the president is asking for $300 million to buy the same scanners for U.S. airports at the request of a White House commission on Aviation Safety and Security, created in the aftermath of the crash of Flight 800. The article I read talks about the action taken by the White House as being tough, doable, and that it will be done quickly and effectively. It also goes on to say that this is an example of prudent management.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure the families of the victims of Flight 800 think this is a pretty good spin on poor judgment and terrible management by our president -- too little too late!

Let's elect someone with the courage and the character to lead our great nation, someone who has character, experience, and leadership qualities. A man who has been tested and always found strength in the values that made America great: faith in God, belief in community, personal responsibility, and love of family. Someone who has reconnect our government in Washington D.C., with the common sense values of our citizens.

At the convention, Bill Clinton asked all of us to build a bridge. I say let's all help build Bill Clinton a bridge -- a bridge with one-way traffic from the White House back to Arkansas.

ROBERT MOORE

Mounds, Ill.