Readers Choose Their Targets

Your column is not even good for bird cage liner. Tell your gay friends to stay in the closet. Conservative Orange County is not concerned with and are offended by all these disturbed people. Tell them to stay in the closet. Your skill is better suited to assembly line work. Quit now so we mustn’t endure any more of your lame columns.

TIM SMITH

Tustin

Dear Mr. Smith,

Hmm. Have you tried doubling it with one of those heavy-duty plastic garbage bags? What type of a bird do you have? Give it my best. You two sound very close.

Dianne Klein:

What apple tree did you fall out of?

At the time I read your sob sister article on the welfare mother, my daughter was having a problem with another of her kind. So sad? Single mother, two children. Where are the fathers?

My daughter owned a condo in Capistrano and rented it to this person through HUD. Why they put her into a $950 apartment makes my hair curl. POOR Mom paid $125, and we the suckers, so-called taxpayers, picked up the rest.

Then the person decided to move. That was OK. From the immediate neighbors there, POOR Mom was NOT that good a neighbor. When she left, the place was trashed. . . . Then to top it off, “Poor Mom” decided to sue my daughter, saying, she--”Poor Mom”--was entitled to more of her deposit to be returned to her. . . .

But at the court, my daughter won the suit. Not really--she had to lose a day’s salary. (She doesn’t get anything for FREE). Plus $25 for the court costs.

So you should stick to animal stories until you know what you’re talking about.

JEAN V. COURTNEY

(MRS. DAVID)

Anaheim

Jean V. Courtney (Mrs. David):

Thanks for the advice. I can see that you are a very perceptive reader. Yes, I am a sucker for animal stories. Dogs, cats, birds, even turkeys. They can all find a hearing in my column!

Dear Ms. Klein,

No one was sadder than I to see your column return to the tired, liberal drivel that we in Orange County have continued to be subjected to. In fact, your last couple of columns actually made some sense. I was impressed. But, alas, you have returned!

Your ability, and your kind’s ability to always find the government somehow responsible for every ailment this nation suffers is beyond me! But this most recent article (“Lonely Struggle”) is just beyond me! How in the name of God can you and these ungrateful Vietnamese whiners condemn this government “for not doing enough”? . . .

You gleefully point out that the Phans had applied for (and not received) SSI benefits (thank God) but were “too new to the system” to know they could appeal due to their income. Have you absolutely gone south, Ms. Klein?!! . . . And how can you in good conscience feel bad for people who find a way to send money back to Vietnam for their parents but . . . can’t, won’t, don’t, help their own child! And blame the government!

But wait, amazingly, like all Dianne Klein soapbox stories of government neglect, there is more. What I really love is that you try to make us, me, we feel bad because after all this country has done for these people, it’s still the government’s fault in Mr. Phan’s and your eyes that she shot her daughter and lay down in the lanes of the freeway to die!

Welcome back, Ms. Klein!! I don’t feel bad.

DAVID FLYNN

Santa Ana

Dear Mr. Flynn,

Why, thank you. It’s good to be back!! I enjoy your letters. Thanks for staying out of touch.

Dear Dianne,

It seems like YEARS since I began reading your column, but I only began that activity in late 1990. The variety of your interests seems unlimited. It almost appears as if a large staff would be required to obtain so many different types of stories, and you would barely have time to just write them up!

Your recent story of the-traffic-to Las Vegas deaths of the two promising young Amerasian men, also seeking news of their fathers, was a tear jerker for me. I even wondered if a former Sunday school student of ours was one of the lost fathers until I read on. . . . I have enjoyed especially YOUR responses to criticism (and praise) of your OWN articles, which have appeared twice since I began following you. You DO have a sense of humor (AND perspective), and a priceless ability to make use of sarcasm. This talent is to be admired, even by your “adversaries.” (Hey, Dianne, back off, I often use scribbled marginal notes TOO!)

I don’t know if I ever said so, but I TRY to write a lot myself: Boring scientific and engineering stuff (often with 14 NEW uses for the comma, and sentences that are ALSO paragraphs), and I too get LOTS of criticism (and, occasionally, some surprising support). Without a newspaper column of my own I cannot fight back very effectively, but I try. . . .

Sincerely, but (like my home address) NOT for publication,

MR. X

Anaheim

Dear Mr. X,

Actually, a large staff IS required to obtain so many different types of stories. This has not been generally known until now. Alas, ANOTHER equally perceptive reader, one David Flynn of Santa Ana, has already made this public (SEE ABOVE). While one Dianne Klein goes south, her evil liberal twin, takes over. I’d also like to THANK YOU, Mr. X, for enclosing a page with margin scribblings. This was unnecessary, however. I believed you.

Thank you, once again, for the depth and quality of your column. I deeply appreciate your sensitivity and excellent writing.

I save many of your thought-provoking articles and share them with friends. The First Amendment--our first freedom and last resort--is alive and well in Costa Mesa!

DANIEL STENGE

Tustin

Dear Daniel,

What?! Are you some kind of kook? Have a nice day.

Dianne Klein’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Readers may reach Klein by writing to her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7406.