PREACHING TO THE GRANDSTAND

The Mountain Xpress deserves a note of credit for highlighting my
glaringly obvious, self-serving efforts to grandstand around the drug issue.

It takes special talent to alienate the drug community and the police
at the same time, and such shenanigans merit editorial attention.

Heck, if you throw in the any-way-you-like-it crowd, those with a
knee-jerk resistance to conservative-Christian Republicans, and the
slumbering majority who resent having their comfortable complacency on
our drug problem interrupted, I've managed to alienate about 90
percent of the people of Asheville. That's certainly a savvy way to
secure my personal safety and political future. Keep your keyboard
warmed up though, because I am not done. I hope to finish off the
remaining 10 percent in the near future.

With the help of those few people who take the time to raise my
awareness, I plan to continue grandstanding on our drug issues every
chance I get. At some point, I have faith that your readers will grow
in their understanding that we are losing too many of our children,
friends and neighbors to the harms of drugs--and that's not a joke.

Carl Mumpower,

Asheville City Council