Dirty Tricks

In a presidential race already tinged with foul language, accusations of murder and the dark shadow of drug money, a suspected campaign dirty trick doesn't get many people excited. When front-runner Alvaro Colom arrived in this town in western Guatemala, the plaza in the center of town had gone dark. Coincidence? Perhaps, but cutting off the power and rendering an opponent's sound system inoperable is a common campaign tactic.

When asked the difference between a calamity and a misfortune, 19th-century British Prime Minister Disraeli responded of his opponent: "Well, if Gladstone fell into the Thames, that would be a misfortune; and if anybody pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity." The Rich Sybert affair is a misfortune, only in this case he did not so much fall as leap; but we should not lift him into office--that would be calamitous.

Norway's environment minister called the United Nations climate negotiations starting today in Copenhagen "the most difficult talks ever embarked upon by humanity." They are also probably the most important; at stake in this gathering of 190 nations intended to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol are the future of human civilization and the survival of countless plant and animal species threatened by climate change. Yet even at a time when unity of purpose is crucial, global warming deniers have stepped up their dirty tricks campaign and scored their biggest victory to date.

The Republicans never cease to amaze. The party of special interests, Joe McCarthy and dirty tricks is now accusing the Democrats of special interests, McCarthyism and dirty tricks. When the polls showed the American people 2 to 1 against the confirmation of Bork, the Republicans accused the opposition of bowing to "special interests." Are the people now "special interests" to this Administration? By golly, I think they are. BILL IDELSON Pacific Palisades

You have only days until you start your New Year's resolutions, and we're going to bet a lot of you have resolved to slim down in 2012. Speaking of betting...that's become a popular way to diet, with diet betting sites popping up on the Internet promising to help you lose a reasonable amount of weight by betting among your friends who will get there first in a set amount of time, and the winner gets the pot. Some sites allow you to bet against yourself....

The last-minute change of time of the UCLA-Arizona State game from early Saturday afternoon to Saturday night is just another example of the dirty tricks that the athletic department has played on Bruin ticket-holders ever since Peter Dalis became athletic director. The result: Hardly anyone went to the game. Too many people wanted to watch the World Series Saturday night. Of course, that was no problem for Dalis and Chancellor Young, who could watch the Series on TV in their luxury box. Others had made plans that could not be changed.

After dodging resistance from Richard Nixon loyalists and Watergate-era operatives, the cold-war historian who oversaw the dramatic metamorphosis of the former president's library from roadside attraction to respected federal institution is stepping aside. Timothy Naftali, 49, who presided over the transfer of the long-ridiculed private library to federal hands in 2007, will leave Nov. 19 and said he plans to turn his focus to finishing a book he's been researching on the 37th president's great rival: John F. Kennedy.

Our two-party system is crummy. We need a real democracy such as the ones in much of Europe and Israel, where smaller parties can become part of government. Perhaps the Perot candidacy is a step in that direction. As a lifelong Republican, I am fed up with Bushpublicans and their dirty tricks. I've told the Republican National Committee to remove my name from their mailing lists. At this point, I don't care what (Ross) Perot believes in--he's got my vote. And in this case, it is a matter of the devil you don't know is far better than the ones you do know.

Re "Meet the Powers Behind the Democrats' Strategy," July 5 Your article about the two men (Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois) assigned to help more Democrats win election gives me a spark of optimism. I have been dismayed of late at the Democrats' lack of intestinal fortitude and inability to prepare for and defend against the aggressive tactics of the Republicans. It feels as if the Democrats have not read the text for the classes Gingrich 101 and Dirty Tricks 101, which, if nothing else, could prepare them for the upcoming elections.