Opinion & Comment
About US President Bush

To the Editor:

You wrote (Jan. 26) in "An Inauspicious Beginning," that "for most Americans today, what they want is nothing more than simple physical enjoyment, and getting their way just means that they have access to the particular pleasures that they prefer. . . . Is this the freedom that George Bush champions? This is not ideals and values but precisely the opposite."

For the record, this is how President Bush, in his inauguration speech, defined "freedom": "In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character — on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai..."

While the President's definition may not accurately mirror the "freedom" desired or enjoyed by a majority of Americans, he clearly is not seeking to impose a form of hedonism on the world.

Best Regards,

Moshe Polon

Los Angeles, California

The Editor Replies:

We hope that the letter is correct, but we fear that not.

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