Eliot�s Fine
�Inside Eliot�s Army� [by Steve Fishman, January 10] was reassuring. I admire Eliot Spitzer�s persistence in pursuing investigations into industries that have previously enjoyed an ability to evade serious investigation. He has given muscle to the jurisdiction of the New York State attorney general�s office by utilizing laws that have been in existence but that haven�t been creatively applied. I agree with the idea of law as a civilizing force. I think it�s time for a Democratic governor, and Eliot Spitzer has earned our confidence as a leader.
�Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, N.Y.

Two things are clear to anyone who has followed Mr. Spitzer�s �crusades� against investment banking, mutual funds, and insurance: First, no industry can regulate itself; second, our regulatory bodies generally serve the very institutions they are supposed to regulate. We need a few more crusaders with moral indignation and not a little personal anger. There�s a lot of sleaze in American business today. And to those industry insiders who say that they know which actions are accepted business practices and which cross the line�a response I recently got at a post-holiday dinner�I say: What a load of poppycock.
�Jim Vance, Summit, N.J.

Was it just an accidental camera shadow that gave your cover picture of Eliot Spitzer the unfortunate little Hitler mustache?
�Fred Aaron, Port Washington, N.Y.

Hypocritical Oath
Your article on Dr. Gil Lederman [� The Doctor Can�t Help Himself,� by Andrew Goldman, January 10] was appalling, at the very least. When I became a doctor in 1983, we had been taught that �ethics� were what defined a professional. Most of us listened. Lederman should first have his license revoked and then have several tender parts of his anatomy subjected to a series of fractionated stereotactic radiosurgeries.
�Dr. Daniel Thomas Moran, Shelter Island, N.Y.

As a former patient of his, I read your article on Dr. Gil Lederman with a great deal of disappointment. Instead of focusing on the positives of this trailblazing physician, you focused on speculative allegations. You should have pointed out that Dr. Lederman is a pioneer in the use of fractionated stereotactic radiation (FSR) for acoustic neuromas, benign tumors of the hearing-and-balance nerve that traditionally required open-brain surgery. I am greatly indebted to him, as are countless others.
�Dr. Louis H. Griffel, New Brunswick, N.J.

Embraced
Amy Sohn�s �Obstacle Course� [�Mating,� January 3] was a real downer for any person with disabilities. I�m a polio survivor since age 4, and have spent my entire life either on crutches, with a brace, or, at best, with a limp. I married a terrific guy, have two extraordinary daughters, and hold a highly demanding job. Ms. Sohn just doesn�t get it. Of course physical disabilities produce angst and insecurity, but what holds true for any relationship applies here as well: It�s the image you project based on comfort with yourself that makes a relationship work.
�Harriet Burnett, Manhattan

Red Tape
In �Operation Desert Fraud� [October 25, 2004], Stacy Sullivan quoted an unnamed source claiming CBS had used faked tapes of an Al Qaeda training camp. Her source said the CIA had conducted a voice analysis on the tapes and determined the tapes supplied to 60 Minutes II in 2002 were staged. An official CIA spokeswoman told CBS this for the record: �The CIA did not conduct a voice analysis of the tapes or draw any conclusion regarding its authenticity.� Additionally, former CIA agent Milt Bearden, the man in charge of the CIA�s secret war in Afghanistan and now a CBS News consultant, says the training in the tapes is identical to the training given to the mujaheddin in the camps during the Afghan war against Russia, and he believes the tapes in question are authentic.
�Jeff Fager, Manhattan Executive Producer, 60 Minutes