LETTERS: TRIPP'S BETRAYAL OF A FRIEND IS REVOLTING

To the editor:

I had a pretty good chortle the other night while watching "Larry King Live." King's guests were Lucianne Goldberg, at whose insistence Linda Tripp surreptitiously recorded her telephonic conversations with Monica Lewinsky, and Goldberg's son, Jonah. King asked the Goldbergs to what they attributed Tripp's extreme unpopularity, not to say infamy, among her fellow citizens.

The response by Goldberg fils certainly gasted my flabber. His explanation was that it was not surprising that Tripp's popularity stood so low, that this showed just how effective the White House spin machine did its job. Shortly afterward, King said his usual "We have to take a break," but I'll bet "Give me a break" was on the tip of his tongue.

If this is what Goldberg actually believes, his psychiatrist needs to increase the poor lad's dosage. Except for confirmed rightist ideologues, is there anyone out there who is not revolted by Tripp's betrayal of her erstwhile friend -- with or without the construction placed on it by the White House.

A Maryland grand jury is looking into the possibility that Tripp, in doing her surreptitious taping, contravened one of Maryland's laws, which proscribes the recording of conversations unbeknownst to one of the conversers. In covering that development, it was said repeatedly that a prosecution of the supposed offense would prove to be difficult, because the law requires that the putative offender be aware that the act was against the law. If so, is this law not an exceedingly rare thing, an exception to the legal maxim regarding ignorance of the law? Dare we hope that the conservative law-and-order crowd will start clamoring in this case? Don't bet the rent. Cape Girardeau's famous sacred cow, Rush H. Limbaugh III, has already seized with joy upon this requirement of scienter as Tripp's salvation. I guess Rush has gotten soft on crime in his old age.

I understand that Tripp is getting close to 90 grand per annum for doing something or other in the field of public relations for the Pentagon. And in the course of doing this work, she doesn't even have to leave her house. As Ira Gershwin says, nice work if you can get it.

One more thing: Tripp's apologists have posited, as her justification for wanting to get the goods on Lewinsky, some vague fear that Tripp had of losing her job because of her outspokenness regarding things that she claimed to have seen in the White House. Balderdash. Losing her job would be the best thing that could happen to her. After all, every right-wing stink tank in Washington is stuffed to the gills with conservative true believers who do not seem to be in the mood to try to make it under their beloved capitalism. Surely a fellowship at the Heritage Foundation is in the cards for her.

DONN S. MILLER

Tamms, Ill.