Bird Shot

Howard Rosenberg’s gushing praise for Rose Elizabeth Bird as a KABC-TV commentator was pure poppycock (“Bird Commentaries Open New Vistas at Channel 7,” March 16).

Rosenberg lauds Bird’s “thoughtful and eloquent” commentaries, citing her lament that the Rev. Jesse Jackson may be denied the Democratic nomination for President “merely because he’s black.”

That is simplistic and insulting to millions of people like me who would never vote for Jesse Jackson, not because he’s black, but because of many other factors such as the fact that he never held public office, called Jews “hymies,” hugged Yassar Arafat. . . .

While I accept that commentators may have biases, I don’t want to hear the views of a woman who was voted out because she was morally dishonest enough to subvert the office of Chief Justice of California by twisting interpretation of laws to conform to her own beliefs.

KABC-TV has some informed, polished and professional commentators in Bruce Herschensohn, John Tunney and Lisa Specht. Why lower its standards and inflict someone like Rose Elizabeth Bird on us just to hype ratings with a controversial celebrity?

MAX SHAPIRO

Los Angeles