In view of the upcoming primaries I felt compelled to bubble up this Letter to the Editor

Note to Admin: Yes, perhaps it's excessively political but thought our participants might find it amusing anyhow for what I claim is its colorful phrasing. If it doesn't meet Protocol feel free to delete it but appreciate if you could wait for a while because as I point out, in an excessively uptight and Politically Correct ambience there's a crucial need these days for a chuckle now and again


[Hi Times Ed.: Owing to its relevance I hope you can use the following, as the Op-Ed pages do tend toward the excessively grim. But if you can’t I’m hoping at least you get a chuckle out of it–regards–Dale Hileman]


Dear Sirs:

In view of upcoming presidential primaries I offer the following in the hope that it might provoke a little more forethought than last time. And while I love my country, in this day and age of Extreme Political Correctness I would hope not to be excoriated by the Right-leaning reader as grossly unpatriotic:

Beliefs of WMD’s in Iraq persists, AP Aug 7, 2006: “Did Saddam Hussein’s government have weapons of mass destruction in 2003? Half of America apparently thinks so, a new poll finds”

In a country where half the population also believed that Saddam was responsible for 9/11 while half were sure that the White House knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance and didn't do anything...

...most still believe in psychic healing and extrasensory perception, half of us think there’s a Devil and Hell while half believe in astrology, still another half believe in space men and UFO’s and more than half believe in ghosts...

...half of us believe the First Amendment “goes too far,” and bulk of us believe cancer is a disease that strikes at random and cannot be prevented...

...we learn just recently that “...55% of 1,000 adults surveyed said children should be taught creationism and intelligent design....” (Time, Aug. 15, 2006)

So it’s not hard to understand how Bush was elected by a bare plurality.

And no, for those readers who did vote for him, it’s not the same half every time

Dale Hileman
Apple Valley

dalehileman