Yeltsin and Mir

Al Taylor's letter today made a number of excellent points.

    I can understand his frustration with the excess of drivel on the op-ed

    pages. But there may be an embarrassing excuse for all this intellectually

    inferior stuff:

            It was reported that barely 12 percent of the voters showed

    up for the Sept. 15 primary. Does this figure correlate with the

    percentage of politically literate in the state ? With the

    percentage of culturally literate ?

        Would it be financial suicide for the press to please the

    more alert part of the population ?

              Al Taylor again complains about his letter being

    butchered by Robert Whitcomb. I cannot judge that. But I can

    offer Al this consolation : His " butchered " letter ( " Shame,

    shame, shame ! " was very effective , one of the best that I've

    read on the  Clinton Whitehouse sex scandal.

          Often there is more punch in brevity . Editing is not

    ALWAYS butchering !

          The brief letter in today's Providence Journal " Resign

    Yeltsin ! "  by Roseta Desrosiers is very effective.

          Perhaps Boris Yeltsin should be forced to govern Russia

    from the Mir space station. He might have a broader perspective

    on his country from out there.

            The Mir might be also be a good location for the next

    summit conference !