Suspension of Doonesbury Strips

Maybe you need to hear from a representative of “the other side” on the Doonesbury flap, too.

Some of us liberals love you just as much as ever. The editorials you have been running last week and in recent weeks and months and years have been so consistently good that they far outweigh anything you may have done “wrong” regarding the Trudeau strips. I feel sorry for the subscription cancelers who are cutting off their noses to spite their faces, and going to miss out on your commendable editorial positions.

As for Doonesbury, the cartoons that week weren’t very good--certainly not good enough to risk major libel litigation, which I suspect is what your legal counsel suggested would be the upshot if you published them. I think it’s important to save your First Amendment energy for more important issues, and I trust that this is your strategy.

ANNE STERN BERKOVITZ

Los Angeles