JUST SAY MINE

During the Reagan years, Nancy Reagan started an anti-drug campaign,
"Just Say No." It appears that Republican leadership has once again
determined such a campaign will be effective. It might be for them,
but not for our country.

The original Just Say No campaign is still around. Go by a school
during drug awareness week and signs are still displayed. Has it been
effective? Drug usage has changed little; an overwhelming percentage
of prisoners are incarcerated at great public expense for drug-related
crimes. Instead of helping eliminate problems, such campaigns only
demonize those afflicted. It is a selfish, arrogant stance that is
cruel and demeaning.

Republicans and conservatives don't realize that people matter. One
gets an impression that they believe they are inherently entitled to
privileges like health care, lower taxes and high paid positions at
our expense, while the rest are not! CEOs, money managers, lobbyists
and many politicians may believe that they are entitled to big
benefits because they have big responsibilities. Nurses and
care-givers that save your life, or teachers who teach your children
or police and firefighters who come to your aid in an emergency matter
just as much as they do. Don't others deserve their respect and
shouldn't others be entitled to the same basic privileges and benefits
they receive?

You and I, each and every one of us, matter. If we are to coexist, all
of us need to learn others matter just as much as we do. Just saying
no says the opposite; it says I matter and you should pay for my
privileges. That is not politically smart; it is un-American, and most
of all it is down-right immoral.

Richard Rowland, Deltona