'JUST SAY NO' TO GUN-WIELDING COPS IN SCHOOLS

Watching the news over the weekend, I was ecstatic to see videos of
our special-ops men rounding up Saddam and the last of his hellhounds.
Finally.

There they were, lined up against the wall, handcuffed and staring
into the pitiless barrels of revolvers and the steely gazes of 14 of
America's toughest hombres.

Break out the Dom Perignon!

No, wait. Oh, you mean those weren't Baghdad Baathists? And those
weren't our special-ops guys?

Indeed, the incredible film - by now familiar to most - captured
students on their way to class and Goose Creek police officers, who,
along with police dogs, conducted a "drug sweep" at Stratford High
School in Goose Creek, S.C., a suburb of Charleston.

Well at least, I permitted myself to assume, there's an armed and
dangerous heroin-tipped dart blower in the supine crowd. But no,
police found nothing. Not even a joint, though police reported that
their dogs found 12 book bags worthy of sustained sniffing.

But no "drogas." No marijuana. No cucaracha.

The man behind the curtain in this bad trip to the dark side of Oz was
Principal George McCrackin, who called police when he divined from
watching students via surveillance cameras that something might be,
you know, "going down."

Police already had been reviewing surveillance tapes following a
student tip about drugs on campus and were confident of drug activity,
according to Lt. Dave Aarons of the Goose Creek Police Department.
Students were "posing as lookouts and concealing themselves from the
cameras."

Drugs and money indeed may have been exchanged on the campus, which
happens far too often for any parents' peace of mind, but kids have
been known to play "let's mess with the grownups."

Since the raid, McCrackin has been shown on national news reports
seated at a four-panel video screen in his office where he keeps an
eye on his nefarious herd. Apparently, he saw something that looked to
him like an imminent threat of a drug transaction and placed a call to
the police.

Whereupon 14 officers responded with notable enthusiasm. They "assumed
strategic positions," and "did unholster in a down-ready position,"
said Aarons.

Thankfully, no one was shot or hurt, but then neither were any drugs
confiscated. Instead, the entire exercise was a lesson in everything
we hope not to teach our children, that:

School officials are not to be trusted;

Police are not to be trusted;

Grownups are dangerous and weird.

That's what I heard as I watched reruns with two college
freshmen.

Disturbingly, some parents weren't upset that their children were
treated like insolent Kurds during one of Saddam Hussein's mood swings.

Some were angry, but others interviewed said they trusted officials to
do what was necessary. An Internet survey by a San Antonio, Texas, TV
station found that 33 percent of those responding thought the action
was appropriate.

I don't mean to minimize the danger of drugs in our culture, and I
don't blame school officials for taking the problem seriously.
McCrackin had a legitimate duty to try to stop illicit commerce on his
watch.

But scaring young people to death, pointing pistols in their faces,
handcuffing them for failing to respond quickly enough is "over the
top." McCrackin says he didn't know police would draw their guns.

What happened at Stratford is inexcusable, unacceptable and
un-American.

The American Civil Liberties Union has said the raid was illegal, and
the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is investigating. In
the meantime, McCrackin might consider taking some R&R, and the Goose
Creek Police Department might goose-step on over to Tikrit. I hear our
special-ops guys could use some backup.