SPECIAL CLASS OF CITIZENS?

An Aug. 18 article, "Suspected pot `planted,' governor's aide jokes,"
about a pot plant growing at the governor's mansion in Denver, proves
that government officials have become a special class of citizens.

State workers removed what appeared to be a knee-high marijuana plant
from a bed of bluebells and clover. The State Patrol called it a
"look-alike" plant; experts at the Denver Botanic Gardens, however,
said it was the genuine article.

It's all been laughed away by the governor's spokesman, who quipped
that "This is obviously a planted story." Funny. No arrests; no SWAT
team kicking down the governor's front door; no seizure of the
governor's assets; no conspiracy charges against his wife, aides,
servants and groundskeepers. Common citizens get police-state tactics
while elected officials get to send out their press agents to crack
jokes.

Some might ask, "Would you have a governor treated like a brutal
criminal because of some marijuana on his property?" No -- and I
wouldn't want anyone else treated that way, either.

Scott McPherson, Tulsa