To the editors:

In her column "Say It Ain't So, Mr. President" (Jan. 29), Susannah B. Tobin manages to turn a critique of the President's alleged affair into a polemic against Republicans and the Republican Party. Tobin compares the current scandal to Watergate; but this comparison serves only to highlight Clinton's relative innocence. While Nixon was "paranoid and plotting" and committed acts of "evil," Clinton's actions are merely "stupid" and stem from a "personal flaw." Of course, many of us have a large personal flaw and do many stupid things. Most of us, however, have never committed the felony of perjury--which Clinton allegedly has.

Even in her generally sober critique of Clinton, Tobin has to drag in the unrelated offenses of Newt Gingrich. In an indictment of all Republicans, Tobin refers to him only as "their Speaker of the House" and continues by condemning all Republicans for allowing lobbyists to influence legislation in the House. I'm not certain it is a fair argument to compare Clinton's crimes with those of the entire Republican congress.

It was a shame to see Tobin's very personal, honest editorial marred by a few cliched partisan attacks. ZACHARY L. SHRIER '99   Jan. 30, 1998