Hold applause for Morton Downey Jr.

I read “Downey: Soft Underbelly” by Tom Shales (EM, March 19) and offer an observation: He obviously dislikes the brainless yet ever-growing “entertainment” crap on TV like “Survivor,” “Jerry Springer” and WWF like I do. Good. Write more about this garbage that numbs the viewer’s mind; maybe some will decide enough is enough.

Mr. Shales mentioned Morton Downey was alone in this field when he had his 15 minutes, but the warped genre had to start somewhere-Mort was the springboard for a good deal of this vulgar, abusive junk.

While I believe he did it for fame and fortune and wasn’t a truly bad person, he still doesn’t deserve a eulogy that depicts any soft underbelly. His show was a type of cancer. Should he really be given accolades for this kind of legacy?

Mark Krawiec

New York