DESPITE WHAT BOB MONdello says, the Cobb County, Ga., commissioners did not censor Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Theater,11/12). Did the commissioners force the play’s producers to insert scenes praising Pat Robertson? No. Did the commissioners collect all the scripts and toast them in the public square? No. All the commissioners did was cut off government grants. How is this “censorship”?

I realize Bob Mondello is trying to be the most fervent supporter of government arts subsidies in America. At times, it seems that Mondello feels that every NEA recipient is a genius, and the man won’t sleep soundly at night until the government spends more money on the arts than on the Pentagon. But the next time Mondello tells us how wonderful government grants are, I wish he would quote the passage in the Constitution that says that artists have a right to suck up tax dollars. (It’s probably right next to the passage that guarantees every American free health care.)

Silver Spring, Md.