Column shows the hypocrisy of liberal media...

Column shows the

hypocrisy of liberal media

Joe Bell’s giddy, “gotcha” column about Bill Bennett’s gambling is

an excellent example of the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the

liberal media (“The Bell Curve,” Thursday). Not too long ago, Bill

Clinton apologists and pundits were urging us to separate private

behavior from public roles. The former president’s philandering and

his subsequent parsing and perjury were explained away as involving

purely personal matters that did not rise to a level warranting

impeachment and/or removal from office.

Admittedly, Bennett suffers from the nature of his public role.

That role causes him to tell us things that we don’t necessarily want

to hear. He talks about morality, discipline and decline. He is

definitely not a “good old boy” of the Clinton ilk. But did he lie?

Did his behavior humiliate his family? Did he cost the taxpayers

millions of dollars to uncover his transgressions? Did he break laws

and sully a public office?

While the answer to those questions is “No,” he nevertheless has

lost credibility and damaged his reputation, perhaps irreparably. At

least in those areas he shares something with the other Bill.

DENNIS L. EVANS

Newport Beach

There’s a difference

between the Balboas

Last Sunday’s “Looking Back” article, “Balboa Island’s long gone

bank,” is not the first time the Daily Pilot has misplaced landmarks.

Or do you simply refuse to acknowledge that there is a difference

between Balboa Island and the village of Balboa on the Balboa

Peninsula? Both Balboa and Balboa Island have their own post offices,

so at least the federal government seems to acknowledge there is a

difference. So why, all of a sudden, can’t the Daily Pilot keep them

separated? There never was a bank on Balboa Island. My grandparents

lost their life savings in 1932 because of the failure of that bank,

so I was well aware of it.

Incidentally, it was a very handsome building and was really the

only building around that would have been worth saving for its

historical and architectural significance. The idea of saving the

Balboa Theater or the Port Theatre for their “significance” is

absurd. Neither of those had any real artistic or historical value

and both of them were as cheaply built as possible. The bank building

was built to last forever and would have been well worth saving in

spite of its unfortunate history.

JERRY PARKS

Newport Beach