Woolworth's appears suddenly to have become very sensitive to the ideological interests of its customers. After several months of pressure--mostly in the form of irate, anonymous letters and protests from local patriotic organizations, the dime store chain has decided to discontinue selling the few goods it carries which are manufactured in Soviet bloc countries.

If a number of vigilantes find it offensive to discover Communist willow baskets creeping into fine American homes, that's their business, of course. The curious thing about all of this is Woolworth's new-found politico-economic consciousness. It took, after all, years of sit-ins and picketing, thousands of letters and even some jail sentences, to get the chain store to integrate its lunch counters all over the country. Stupid anti-Communist gestures evidently give Woolworth's more serious pocketbook jitters than do widespread movements for expanded democracy and civil rights here at home.