Ah, how enjoyable was the tranquility of the Courier's post-election edition on Nov. 9.

Interrupted only by your ersatz political cartoonist, who once again aptly demonstrates the mental vacancy of Bill Clinton's supporters with a satirical comparison of the crimes of Bill Clinton and "Scooter" Libby.

Cartoonist R.J. Matson apparently is unable or unwilling to recognize the significant differences between the actions of Messrs. Clinton and Libby. Here are three for starters:

*Clinton was charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by a federal judge for committing perjury. Clinton's punishment included suspension of his license to practice law. Libby has been charged by a special federal prosecutor for committing perjury--trial pending.

*Clinton looked the news camera right straight in the eye and said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman--Monica Lewinsky." Clinton lied to us. Libby made no public denial of the charges against him, but promised to stage a vigorous defense.

* Clinton committed his crimes while serving as the president of the United States. Libby is alleged to have committed his crimes while serving as the chief of staff to the vice president of the United States.

Gordon Frolich

Cupertino

Slanderous þier hurts
unity of diverse city

I was very upset to receive a flier before the election that clearly slandered candidate Raj Abhyanker.

I know every candidate has his/her strengths and flaws. What I am upset about is negative campaigning in our city. I care about this city and for any resident embarrassed in public, which ultimately decreases the unity in our diverse population.

I do not agree with all of Abhyanker's platforms, but I strongly oppose the act of defaming a person in public. Putting his picture on a flier with influential words is very biased and shameful in my opinion. I do not mind receiving a flier, but I suggest the following for a more appropriate campaign:

* Leave words such as "opportunist" and "some people don't belong in public office" out of the flier.

* Put contact information in the flier so residents have the opportunity to respond (a P.O. box would not do).

* Mail the flier earlier, because receiving the flier the weekend before election Tuesday seems too suspicious to me as an "informed citizen."

Should negative campaigns arise in the future, let's not let slander influence our vote. We must vote with reason, conviction and our beliefs; we should never vote on emotions.

Kelly Vaughn

Cupertino

The 52 to 54 percent
vote is not a mandate

As a staunch opponent of Measures A, B and C, I was pleased with the election results and appreciate the support our campaign received from our entire city council and the many Cupertino residents who joined us

Thanks especially to the Courier for its editorial support and publishing all those letters, pro and con.

However, I do not view our 52-54 percent majority as a mandate and trust the large minority supporting A, B and C will continue to be heard.

I also hope the Courier will continue publicizing development proposals before decisions are made.

Anne Ng

Cupertino

Does vote discrepancy
show system breakdown?

The total number of votes cast on Measure A was 12,777, Measure B 12,419 and Measure C 12,762 votes. I would have expected the total number of votes to be the same for all three measures.

Similarly, if one looks at the city council tallies the total was 29,691.

With three choices per person, that comes to about 10,000. It means about 2,600 of us voted for the measures but did not bother with the city council.

Does this mean we haven't mastered the electronic voting system yet?

Siva Annamalai

Cupertino

Solution to break-ins
is not hiding identity

In a letter to the Cupertino Courier (Letters & Opinion Oct. 26), Steve Albrecht suggests that only Asians leave their shoes outside their house, all Asian households contain gold and gems and Asians will not get robbed if they brought their shoes in so that they would not be identified.

The real question for Albrecht is what kind of community does he want Cupertino to be--one where people need to hide their identity to be safe or perhaps one where everyone will have to be the same and do the same to be safe.

Keep in mind Asians are the victims and not the perpetrators of this wave of household break-ins. Shouldn't a solution to this problem be imposed on the perpetrators and not on the victims?

Armineh Noravian

Cupertino

Article did not pick up the
spirit of anti-war protest

The Courier's Nov. 16 article "Peaceful protest turns ugly" about the events surrounding Colin Powell's visit to De Anza College claims that "Though there were plenty of signs and fliers on campus advertising [Cindy] Sheehan's appearance, few students showed up for the press conference." Perhaps that's because the signs and fliers weren't advertising a press conference. Sheehan was one of a half-dozen excellent speakers at a Wednesday anti-war program titled "Voices from Camp Casey."

That event was attended by 150-200 people, most of them students. Curiously, although the Courier doesn't seem to know about the meeting, the picture featured in the article was taken at that program. The fliers also advertised a "War Crimes Tribunal" on Thursday that was attended by an estimated 300 people, mostly students.

Speakers discussed U.S. war crimes, including those of Colin Powell, who played a key role in facilitating the invasion of Iraq with his presentation before the U.N. The South Bay Mobilization has posted a fact sheet on its website, which explores that issue in detail.

Your article describes the evening events of Nov. 9-11 as "peace vigils."

They were not. They were loud, spirited anti-war rallies, featuring speeches, signs, and almost continuous chanting, as shown quite clearly in the second picture in your article.

Students, faculty, and local residents joined together to demand that U.S. troops get out of Iraq and that Powell--and others in the Bush administration who led the U.S. into an illegal and immoral war that has cost tens of thousands of lives so far--be held responsible for their actions.

Steven Patt, Deborah Jamison

Cupertino

Partner city hopefully
brings more integration

I want to clarify my comments quoted in the Nov. 9 Courier article "Cupertino may partner with Indian city." You should first understand that I fully support the team that has proposed this.

The team is led by Mahesh Nihalani, a person who is a leader in the South Asian American community in Cupertino. The group should be commended for their energy, effort, passion and desire to bring their culture to Cupertino and its residents. It would make a fantastic addition as a partner city to Cupertino in that it will help bring cultures of India to a new generation of Cupertino residents.

My comment in the article reflects my belief that it is important for Cupertino residents to have a better understanding of the cultures of the world that are different than those in our own city. Then can we move toward being a truly integrated America, which expresses the best of the world's cultures and traditions.

Since we don't have a large Hispanic or African American population, I think our city can benefit from a sister city such as Sao Paolo or a Capetown. However, no partner city relationship should put additional strain on our limited budget and make us more segregated in our cultures than we already are.

Raj Abhyanker

Cupertino

Well-dressed people þip
the bird at protesters

Colin Powell spoke at Flint Center the night of Nov. 9, and I wondered what he was saying as I stood outside holding a sign that said "Bring the Troops Home Now!" After his performance before the United Nations where he presented government propaganda as truth, I wondered if it was worth the price of admission.

My biggest disappointment that night was the small number of well-dressed individuals who extended a middle finger at protestors who wanted nothing more than the truth and peace.

Phillip P. Pflager

Cupertino

Clarfication

In our Nov. 9 Cover story "The Right Stuff," we should have made it clear that the six students in the story received their awards from the Fremont Union High Schools Foundation. The foundation's Oct. 27 awards dinner raised $70,000, which will be given to schools for library equipment.