When Politicians and the Courts Cross Paths

''Justice ran out the clock'' (Government, Dec. 25/Jan. 1) and ''It didn't have to end this way'' (Editorials, Dec. 25/Jan. 1) were the clearest statements of outrage I have read on the Supreme Court's Bush vs. Gore decision. The ruling, which recognized the unfairness of machine counts yet deferred to arbitrary deadlines to prevent a fair manual count, can only be viewed dubiously.

Yet the insistence on equal protection has already opened doors to better federal oversight of the voting process, as ''Lessons of the fiasco'' (Government, Dec. 25/Jan. 1) describes. The court should now be made to consider requiring all states to assign their electors for President proportionally. Currently, votes for the loser in most states are effectively counted as votes for the winner, which surely violates any equal-protection standard.

Eric Rosenbloom
New York


Were it not for the Supreme Court decision ''ending'' the election by reversing the Florida court, the case would still be pending. Consider: The Florida legislature is responsible for setting standard(s) for legal ballots, not the courts. As every recount proceeded, Bush won; Gore sued to ''change'' (read, lower) the standard. Any standard unchanged from the original would produce a suit from Gore. Any changed standard for a ''prior'' election may have been illegal and produced a suit from Bush. It would be many weeks before a decision was reached, contested, adjudicated, and decided. The Supreme Court acted with restraint, reasonableness, and expedience, ending the litigation and allowing the winner to proceed.

David Crook
Phoenix

The Man Who Fell Furthest

''The search begins for a Democratic savior'' (Government, Dec. 18) misses the mark when it contends that Lieberman got the biggest push out of Campaign 2000. The fact is, he came out the biggest loser. He came into the campaign as the ''moral voice of the Senate'' but came out as a political hack who flip-flops on the issues and doesn't stand up for what he says he believes. We don't need people like that in positions of authority.

Robert E. Nebel
Brenham, Tex.

Many Clicks and Tons of Bricks

How insane an idea would it be for Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to merge (''This race isn't even close,'' Information Technology, Dec. 18)? We all know that each has deficiencies in the other's world. Wal-Mart, while finally getting its Web site up and running, is still behind Amazon online technology and service. As for Amazon, we know its problems with inventory and experienced retail management.

I'm sure the ''experts'' could find many reasons why this wouldn't work, but if the Amazon.com alliance with Toys 'R' Us is even slightly successful, wouldn't Amazon.com and Wal-Mart be the granddaddy of bricks-and-clicks alliances? Anyone for Walmazon?

Sal Chieffalo
New York

Baseball Will Survive A-Rod's Sweet Deal

Please, enough. Haven't we heard the same lament every time a player is signed for a new record salary (''Good for A-Rod, bad for baseball,'' News: Analysis and Commentary, Dec. 25/Jan. 1)? Remember Dave Winfield's deal for $21 million for 10 years or so? Same lament then, yet the game goes on. Baseball team franchises continue to go up in value. When we see teams selling out and losing money on their franchises, then you should worry. It is no accident that the team with the higher payroll also makes the most profit and has the biggest market share. Maybe small-market teams are small because of their small business practices.

Joe DeRosa
Closter, N.J.

Chrysler's Cost-Cutting Has One Driver Scared

CEO Dieter Zetsche's strategy in ''Can Chrysler get blood from a supplier?'' (News: Analysis & Commentary, Dec. 25/Jan. 1), is incredible. I thought that type of management philosophy went out of style years ago. This kind of thinking reflects either that Chrysler Corp. has the worst purchasing department in the world (they have been overcharged so much that their suppliers can quickly lower their prices!) or that this is the signal from Chrysler to cut prices by lowering quality--but don't tell consumers.

I would be scared to purchase a car made by companies that buy the cheapest materials. Quality is key, not lower prices. I can't wait to go a buy a car from Chrysler and immediately demand that they cut the price 10%. I can only assume Zetsche is also getting a 10% salary and bonus reduction.

David C. Steinberg
Plainsboro, N.J.

Choosing a CEO? Don't Take Shortcuts

In the quest for superheroes to rescue our companies and lead us into a performance nirvana, one important hidden dynamic is the process we use to choose top executives and who takes part in that process (''The CEO trap,'' Cover Story, Dec. 11).

A large-scale research program on executive selection, recently completed by the Center for Creative Leadership, found there are no shortcuts to good executive selection. It takes a disciplined and systematic process, best undertaken by a team of people who can put the needs of the organization first.

We found that teams with a diverse makeup, including subordinates and even clients, usually make better hiring decisions than executives acting alone. And these teams dramatically increase their effectiveness by following a rational process: first assessing the organization and identifying the requirements of the job, and then determining a broad range of essential candidate skills. Regrettably, this approach gets sidestepped more often than not--because the process takes time, and companies seem to need a new executive yesterday or sooner.

Finally, choosing the best person isn't where the process ends; integrating the new executive is key. Leaders who receive an introduction to the company and their new position and have a mentor to turn to are more likely to succeed than those left to sink or swim on their own merits.

Valerie I. Sessa
Center for Creative Leadership
Greensboro, N.C.

''Surf at your own risk'' (October 30, 2000)

In our issue of Oct. 30, 2000, we ran an article called ''Surf at your own risk'' (page 143). It described how a Boston-based company, Pharmatrak Inc., surreptitiously tracked computer users who visited the Web sites of 11 pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately, the article used information and wording without attribution from a similar story that ran earlier in The Washington Post. We deeply regret this incident. We apologize to our readers and to The Washington Post for this breach of journalistic standards.