Affirmative action executions

Isn't it rather shabby moralizing to oppose the death

    penalty just because it can be viewed as unfair to blacks ?

           To be sure, this particular injustice can be corrected

    even in Texas. Let the good Governor Bush guarantee " affirmative

    action " for whites convicted of murder. Give THEM an

    equal opportunity to sizzle in the electric chair.

          Does it not make better sense to oppose the death

    penalty for the reasons that the Catholic Church opposes

    it: because it is morally wrong AND barbaric ?

         Also, I can think of a good CONSERVATIVE reason to

    oppose the death penalty : If we distrust State power, do

    we want to give it the  heady power to execute ?

            There is more gravy than GRAVITAS in George W.

    Bush.

            But let me be honest. I will lose no sleep over

    most executions.   My own father supported the death

    penalty - and there was not a mean bone in his body..

            Decent people can disagree here, of course !

Can a dentist save this marriage ?

Thank God for divorce ! A woman complains in an Ann

    Landers column this morning that her husband has not brushed

    his teeth in 20 years ! " He rarely kisses me which is probably

    a good thing ".  Is there any torture quite like forced intimacy

    with people who disgust us ?

         But the woman just wants advice- not a divorce. Ann

    tells her  that his dental hygiene might improve " when

    he gets really sick because of an infection that started in his

    mouth. " 

         The woman said that her insurance does not cover dental

    appointments. Is it not stupid for our medical care system

    to separate dental health from general health ?

         Indeed Wanda Howard this morning quotes the nation's

    surgeon general : " Oral health is integral to a person's

    general health ".

        Please don't tell millions without dental insurance to

    just " brush your teeth and say your prayers ! "

" To Kill a Mockingbird " racist ?

There is no limit to the intellectual vulgarity of our

    PC educators! So now they perceive that wonderful novel

    " To Kill a Mockingbird " represents a " white view of

    racism ". To be sure , it represents a white woman's sensitive

    view of racism in the deep South in the Depression era.

           Such books as Harper Lee's  helped create a

    sympathetic climate for the 60s civil rights revolution.

              If it is simply IMPOSSIBLE for even sensitive,

    intelligent whites to REALLY understand the very real

    problem of blacks, what hope is there for racial harmony

    ever ?

           By the way Malcolm X 's autobiography  TODAY

    - un-annotated - sounds as vile as Hitler's " Mein

    Kampf " . But Malcolm had more of an excuse in 1965 !

            Malcolm seemed to loath Jews and said

    of those alluring white women : " Did you ever SMELL

    one of them ? " A matter on which we are led to

    believe he had intimate knowledge .

              TODAY Malcolm does far more to advance a racist

    agenda than Miss Harper Lee.

One RI vote for Nader

Good morning. I just finished reading your excellent article

    in the Providence Phoenix : " Green Party gets serious "

           Some months ago I told an equally " liberal " friend

    that I was 90 % sure that I would vote for Ralph Nader. He

    too says he is leaning toward Nader. Yes, something electrical,

    magical in the air. I recall  the image of Pope John opening

    a window to let in the fresh air. At times CHANGE is life itself

    happening.

           How utterly stale mainstream politics has become. And

    the old LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVE, RADICAL categories seem so

    inane and stupefying.

               I do note that the Providence Phoenix is itself

    in the clutches of BIG TOBACCO -  MANY full page ads for

    cigarettes. The Devil has grip on ALL of us !

             Thanks again for an important piece of political

    reporting .