OF GOP, DRUG WAR, MAD COWS AND SHOOTING

I would like to comment on several news items of the recent past that I
believe are "commentable."

It is encouraging that the National Republican Party has recently done
something "on principle." They are, after all, supposedly the party of
(Constitutional) principles. Lately, however, principles have taken a back
seat to expediency, getting elected, and, of course, "politically correct"
actions.

But in the matter of the census, they, at least, insisted upon using the
actual count (as the Constitution requires!), rather than the "guesses" of
some "expert," bureaucrat, etc. Let us be duly thankful for these small
(Constitutional) blessings.

And I hope that we locally will not whine too much about any supposed
"undercount." If we were "undercounted," it is probably too late to remedy
that this time.

After giving some thought lately to our so-called "war on drugs," it seems
to me to be a case of arrogance and hypocrisy by this country. As I
understand it, it is the citizens of this country that have the "drug
problem." And how are we dealing with that? By knocking the heck out of
South American farmers 2,000 miles away! They don't have the problem - we
do! The ones who run this program must be the same ones that want to sue
the tobacco companies when smokers smoke too much; or sue the car makers
when some drive stupidly.

Deacon George W. is preaching to those bad folks "across the tracks," when
he should be railing at those undisciplined hypocrites in his own
congregation. And the shooting down of the missionary plane in Peru may be
a sign that we ought to bring our CIA boys home and let them start
preaching on the street corners of the big cities, and stop the drug
problem - right there where it begins!

And I suppose most of us know by now the probable cause of the so-called
"mad cow disease." It is an example of the old equation: greed, plus
stupidity, plus arrogance, equals trouble.

Some of the brilliant scientists apparently decided that in order to make
"more protein," or something (and more money!), they would feed these
cattle - who have been eating only grains for thousands of years -
ground-up meat! They were going to "improve on nature." A 6-year-old farm
boy would know better than that. And Nature didn't want to be "improved" -
and Mother Nature kicked back - read hard! I think some of our modern
scientists think that they discovered knowledge, just as some of our modern
"sophisticates" think they discovered sex.

As for young Andy Williams who shot fellow students in California, surely
there is enough blame to go around.

No one seemed to be "on his side" - not friends, not school, not even parents.

On top of all, his skateboard had apparently been stolen twice.

It's reasonable to speculate how things could have turned out differently,
if someone "important" (to him) had put an arm around those young shoulders
and said, "Don't let them get you down, Andy. How about you and I taking in
a ballgame this afternoon?" There is still miraculous power in love.

Ralph D. Morrow

Sumter