The Charlotte News
Saturday, March 14, 1959
TWO EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the President, according to White House press secretary James Hagerty this date, would sign the Hawaii statehood bill early the following week. Meanwhile, Hawaii Governor William Quinn had called on the President at the White House to thank him on behalf of the people of the islands for the part which the Administration had played in pressing for admission of Hawaii. The Governor said that he had told the President that Hawaii was very conscious of its mission in the middle Pacific and that it wished to perform as the "hub of the Pacific" in creating greater understanding between East and West and the peoples of Asia "whose friendship we are trying to … nourish". The Governor would have 30 days after formal notice of the President's approval to issue an election proclamation for the people to approve of statehood, with the primary election to be held no less than 60 nor more than 90 days after the proclamation and a general election to be held no later than 40 days after the primary. The Governor said that he wanted to talk with the Legislature and political leaders of both parties in Hawaii before issuing his proclamation, but would do so as soon as possible. The Governor, a Republican, who had said the previous month that he would run in the election for the first elected governor of the new state, said this date that it was not time to talk about that. He told reporters that there was a strong two-party system in Hawaii and that perhaps it would vote something like a border state in the continental U.S., adding that Hawaii could swing 51 or 52 percent either toward Republicans or Democrats.
H. B. Humphries of the Associated Press reports that the man on the street in Honolulu, Hilo or Kaunakakai would hardly notice the difference when Hawaii became a state. He would have a big burst of patriotic pride but would pay the same Federal taxes he was paying at present. His first-class postage stamp would still cost four cents. He would still have to report when his number came up in the draft. But now, he could vote. He would be able to write his Senators and lone Congressman and tell them how to vote. And in 1960, he would be able to cast his first vote for the President and Vice-President. Hawaii, as a territory, and Alaska, had to obey all the Federal laws applicable to the rest of the country. Alaska's new Senators and Congressman had three votes in the Congress on taxes, while Hawaii, still remaining a territory for the time being, had only one voteless delegate in Congress, to be changed with statehood. It might cost a person in Hawaii a little more in state taxes than had been the case while it had been a territory. The Federal Government now paid the salary and expenses of Hawaii's governor, a Federal appointee, and also paid the territorial legislators, on the theory that anything they did could be vetoed irrevocably by the Federally-appointed governor or by Congress. It also paid the territorial judges who were appointed by the President. Hawaiians would elect their own governor for the first time when it became a state, and would pay his salary, as well as that of the state legislators and judges. It might cost an average of between 75 and 89 cents per person each year in additional taxes, but Hawaiians believed it was worth it. Another change would be that Hawaiians would get to vote at age 20, whereas they had to be 21 at present to vote, having written the change into their proposed state constitution in 1950, approved in the bill which provided for statehood. Alaskans presently voted at age 19, as each state set its qualifications for its electors. (Note to dummy Trump: That is in the Constitution, has been since it was ratified in 1789, Article I, Section 2, albeit amended to the extent of inconsistent state laws regarding the right to vote by 18-year olds by the 26th Amendment in 1971, and Article II, Section 2, should you and your idiotic supporters deign to read the document sometime. It is not the product of some "radical judge". To the contrary, your silly fantasies are the product of an insane occupant of the White House. To be clear, the "manner" by which "electors" are chosen for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, which would include the manner by which votes are cast for those electors in the popular voting, is determined by the respective state legislatures, not by Congress or an executive fiat issued by His Majesty, Delirium Tremens Non Compos Mentis VIII.)
Another piece from Key West, Fla., indicates that the city was no longer the southernmost in the country, following the admission of Hawaii. The mayor of Key West had wired the mayor of Honolulu congratulations for now being the southernmost city in the country. Key West, like most of the Florida keys, was situated between 24 and 25 degrees north of the equator, while Honolulu was 21 degrees, 19 minutes north. El Presidente cannot change that fact either, any more than he can, with his Sharpie, change the name of the Gulf of Mexico or the name of the John F. Kennedy (Memorial) Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, any more than he can, unilaterally, without the approval of Congress, add on a ridiculously large and ostentatious ballroom to the White House, larger than the White House, itself. Oh, but can he not unilaterally with his Sharpie amend the Fourteenth Amendment to suit his fancy regarding birthright citizenship? Stay tuned. Is this man crazy or what? Yes, it is high time for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, the only drawback being that the toadying Vice-Presidente would then have control of the Sharpie, no doubt then taking direct orders from El Presidente as he would recuperate in the rubber room out at Walter Reed.
In Washington, it was reported that a scholarly editor, Erwin Canham, who had said that the 1900 concept of capitalism—when tariffs had been the failed experiment of the day—was very foreign to the capitalism of the present, was taking over as head of one of the world's largest organizations of businessmen, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He had been elected on Friday and was best known as editor of the Christian Science Monitor and as a radio and television commentator. It was the first time that a newsman had been selected as the head of the Chamber, which usually chose career businessmen, industrialists or financiers.
In Henderson, N.C., it was reported that scattered incidents of fire, explosions and unruly pickets had marred optimism for a quick strike settlement as work halted for the weekend at the Harriet-Henderson Cotton Mills. An explosion on Friday night had torn a hole in the front porch and shattered a window at the home of a non-union yard man who had returned to work at the mills. On Friday afternoon, a mysterious fire had destroyed $1,000 worth of waste cotton loaded in a large tractor-trailer truck. Police also had reported that crowds of strikers who gathered outside the gates of the firm's two plants in North and South Henderson to haze workers had been more active than in previous days. The NLRB said that it would begin on Monday to investigate charges by the Textile Workers Union of America that the cotton mill firm had engaged in unfair labor practices. Boyd Payton, the Carolinas director of the union, and John Cooper, the plant president, had scheduled another negotiation session for the following Thursday. Mr. Payton had said: "As far as we are concerned, the strike can be wound up next week. It's just a matter of give and take." Regarding the meeting of the following week, Mr. Cooper had said, "I hope we can arrive at an agreement which will assure the company's being able to operate efficiently and competitively." The company reportedly had submitted new proposals for dealing with arbitration, the primary issue in the long deadlock, the firm having refused to renew an arbitration clause in the new contract with the union.
In Raleigh, it was reported that major issues had begun to shift into focus during the week for the General Assembly. Governor Luther Hodges had cleared up his position on court reform, selecting the uniform court system with control vested in the State Supreme Court, not the Legislature, as advocated by the committee headed by State Senator J. Spencer Bell of Mecklenburg County. A group of State Senators, headed by John Jordan of Wake County, had mounted an offensive to secure pay raises for teachers and other State employees, offering a bill to raise whiskey taxes and place a 1.5 cent tax on soft drinks to fund it. Senator Lindsay Warren of Beaufort County had warned of a coming battle on proposals to change the State Constitution for automatic reapportionment of legislative seats after each decennial census, to reflect population shifts. Lines of attack had been drawn on highway reorganization, with a House bill introduced to expand the present membership from 7 to 14 on the Highway Commission. Another measure to study the question for two years had gone on the House calendar for a vote early the following week. Three full-scale public hearings had been held but none had produced a vote on the legislation. Chances appeared slim for a bill to provide for free hunting and fishing licenses for persons 65 or older, argued before the House Wildlife Committee. Approval seemed almost certain for a measure to create a new state agency to handle water affairs, having been endorsed by speakers before House and Senate Government committees. More debate appeared in store for the State Prisons Department's requested bill to expand markets among State agencies for products produced by prison industries. A compulsory polio vaccination law had been passed by the Senate, and since an identical measure had already won approval by a House committee, the bill would go directly onto the House calendar. (No, dummy Trumpie, it is not depriving your li'l chillen of their freedom; it's protecting your children and other children from becoming cripples.) New legislation introduced during the week had included an approach to the problem of unwed mothers on welfare rolls, involving the authority for the State Board of Eugenics to order sterilization for women who had two or more illegitimate births, the legislation being sponsored by Representative Rachel Darden Davis of Lenoir County, an obstetrician, and by Senator Wilbur Jolly of Franklin County. The Klan and Neo-Nazi meeting will be held right afterward, should it fail to pass.
Cold winds had entered the Great Plains from the Rockies this date, loosing heavy snow, raising dust and triggering thunderstorms. Eight inches of new snow had been piled into drifts at Harrison in extreme northwestern Nebraska, and the snowfall had reached 6 inches at Ainsworth and Chadron in the western part of that state, where roads were banked and hazardous. Between two and five inches of snow had spread over Wyoming on Friday night and Denver had measured two inches. The cold front passed La Junta, Colo., on 63 mph winds and high dust clouds had been churned in New Mexico by the gusty airstream.
John Borchert of The News reports that a charter pilot for Southern Flight Services, Inc., had been killed during the morning when his single engine Bonanza plane had crashed at Douglas Municipal Airport in Charlotte. The 35-year old pilot had been pronounced dead on arrival at Charlotte Memorial Hospital, where he had been rushed by a North Carolina Air National Guard ambulance. He had joined the company in October, 1958, and had taken off during the morning just to "circle the field". Witnesses said that he had made a 180-degree turn and came back, at which point the plane had fallen to the left of a runway. The plane had been airborne for only a minute when it crashed. The plane was used for advanced students and charter flights by Southern Flight and the deceased had flown it many times, according to the company spokesman. He had been a charter pilot before joining the company and had been a resident of Belmont all of his life.
Monday's sports page would report the results of this night's four regional finals. In the Eastern Regional in Charlotte, number ten West Virginia would defeat unranked Boston University 86 to 82. In the Mideast Regional in Evanston, Ill., unranked Louisville would upset number 7 Michigan State 88 to 81. In the Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kans., number five Cincinnati would upset number one Kansas State 85 to 75. In the Western Regional in San Francisco, number 11 California would clobber number 15 St. Mary's, 66 to 46. The indicated rankings are from the final poll of the Associated Press, published the prior Wednesday. In the four consolation games for third place in each regional, Navy would defeat St. Joseph's of Pa., 70 to 56 in the Eastern Regional. Kentucky would defeat Marquette 98 to 69 in the Mideast Regional. Texas Christian would defeat DePaul 71 to 65 in the Midwest Regional. And Idaho State would defeat Utah 71 to 65 in the Western Regional. The national semifinals would take place the following Friday night, with West Virginia facing Louisville and California pitted against Cincinnati, and the finals between the winners would follow on Saturday night at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.
Incidentally, it is becoming quite apparent that UNC in 2027 will have rotating player-coaches, you know like the NBA in some cases. Let's see how that works. Actually, they sort of tried that in 1925 with Monk McDonald, coming off the undefeated 1924 national championship season, who had played on the 1921-23 teams, and he did rather well, winning the Southern Conference championship. So who knows? The game hasn't changed in the interim that much, has it? except maybe the elimination of the jump ball after every made goal and the concept of the jump-shot, the playing of halves—and have-nots—instead of quarters.
To the morons who started all this nonsense to get coach Hubert Davis fired, we reiterate: shame on you. One would think by their moronic comments that coach Davis had perhaps won maybe 40 or 50 percent of his games in five seasons as head coach, not his actual 70 percent, getting to the NCAA Tournament in four of the five seasons and almost winning the whole thing, falling three points short, in 2022. Again, we reiterate to the morons that it is unprecedented in college basketball, absent some scandal not present in the instant case, for a coach to be fired after a season as good as 24-9 or with an overall winning percentage in five seasons of as much as 70 percent. Unprecedented. If you differ, cite the case. Tell us, know-it-all morons. We advocate rehiring coach Davis if he will deign to head the program again, and forgetting about all this nonsense of having some magical coach who will come in on a white steed and suddenly start hanging banner after banner in the rafters, as if coach Davis has not already hung his fair share. Tell us about it all, morons, you who were born yesterday and can see as far as the near tip of your nose—maybe not even that far in the field sobriety test. We do not believe these whiz kids who so advocate are actually North Carolina supporters, as they appear to be internet trolls who, especially given some of their inane suggestions for a replacement coach, wish to drag the program down into the ground. They certainly do not appreciate the tradition of UNC basketball through the last 73 years since the hiring of coach Frank McGuire from St. John's. Either rehire coach Davis or see that tradition ground into dust, with the administrative decision-makers who brought about these absurd circumstances not only fired but counted in infamy for the foreseeable future.
On the editorial page, "Brooks Hays: The Man in the Middle", an editorial book review of A Southern Moderate Speaks, by Mr. Hays, indicates that there was no refuge for the Southern moderate except in his own conscience and that if he was in public life, he was particularly vulnerable, for he was buffeted with equal fervor from both the left and the right. He could rest for a few moments in the eye of the hurricane, but he knew that he would soon be caught by the tempest's periphery and would lose more feathers in the process.
It finds that no one knew those penalties better than Mr. Hays of Arkansas, as he had lost his share of feathers the prior November when he had been defeated for re-election to Congress after attempting to effect a peaceful solution to the Little Rock school crisis. It finds that an ordinary human would have been driven to cover, but Mr. Hays was no ordinary person and could now survey the future with hope and clarity.
His book was both an apologia and a plea, setting forth an eloquent defense of his own "middle way" in dealing with the South's racial dilemma, and then asking the region and the nation to accept it as a logical means to an honorable end. He favored compliance with the courts, but was against "force" in effecting that compliance, and expressed serious reservations about certain unfortunate aspects of Brown v. Board of Education from 1954, while insisting that it had to be recognized as the law of the land. At the same time, he argued that there was a need for the widest elasticity in its local application. He said that it meant "a heavy reliance on the local sense of justice and fair play to create an environment where brotherhood and harmony between the races can flourish. Attempts to force legal doctrines on the region that cannot be reconciled with the beliefs of the people are doomed to failure."
In the struggle toward moral solutions to the social problem, the moderate had an important role, but Mr. Hays assigned the biggest role to the churches, saying: "In the last analysis, it will be the churches and the local community organizations that will provide the solution to the problem of civil rights." He noted that in the South, the church was literally everywhere, supplying moral and spiritual guidance in the field of race relations as it did in other areas of thought and action and would make its influence even more effective in the future. He emphasized the role of the Southern Baptists in improving race relations because of his personal identification with that faith. He had been president of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1957 and in that capacity had been a recent visitor to Charlotte. But it had not been in that capacity that he addressed himself to the South's racial problems. He had said to a reporter in Little Rock in 1957: "Don't forget, no Baptist can speak for eight and a half million Baptists. No Baptist can speak for two Baptists."
He asked for no sympathy, although acknowledging that the Southern moderate at present was caught between two highly vocal groups, both entertaining strong feelings, but did not view his moderation as a form of martyrdom. He said, "We who are on the white line down the middle have often felt lonesome and frightened, but as more people have joined us, we are beginning to feel that it will not be long before almost everyone is moving in the same direction again."
While advancing his cause, he still welcomed argument and discussion from all comers, saying, "We have been facing two great silences in the South, the silence of the aspiring Negro and the silence of the anxious white, and we must allow both to be heard in freedom and in safety. While the rear beyond those silences is indeed a deafening one, it tends to be smothered by a blanket of suspicion on all sides."
It finds that most of the book was autobiographical, with glimpses of the author's early life and his vital role in Democratic Party politics. Two institutional loyalties had been unshaken throughout his life, the Baptist Church and the Democratic Party. His participation in the civil rights battles in Congress and his bouts with the party's platform writers regarding the civil rights planks were reported in detail in the book. He had opposed the FEPC force legislation and had authored a moderate compromise plank which had never made the grade. He had angered some of his liberal colleagues later by signing the "Southern Manifesto" in March, 1956, as "a proper statement of the South's objection to the overthrow of the Plessy v. Ferguson [1896 separate but equal] decision and violation of the stare decisis principle in constitutional law," although he had objected to some of the sentiments and language in the Manifesto.
It finds that for many, the most stimulating part of the book would be the long chapter titled "The Little Rock Story", providing for the first time a full account of a participant in the events leading up to the Newport, R.I., meeting between the President and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. It finds it a revealing story, crisply told by Mr. Hays, with an unusually charitable view toward Governor Faubus. It cautions that readers should remember that the author was an exceedingly charitable man and finds the whole section on the Little Rock crisis to be excellent, the new facts which he revealed serving to place the tragedy in a much clearer perspective while not lessening its impact on the national conscience.
It finds that the book had serious faults as a work of literature, lacking unity or at least continuity, being too dependent on old speeches and declarations, and the writing often reading like a diary entry. But it did not pretend to be literature, rather was an earnest man's simple declaration of faith in his region and its people, sprinkled with characteristic samples of his humor, even passing along a few of Senator Sam Ervin's jokes, the author making it a point never to take himself too seriously.
It indicates that it was not a definitive book on moderation in the South but was merely one man's approach to the challenge of leadership. Nevertheless, it dared to speak truths which were too often left unsaid both in the South and in the North, and more important, the truth expressed was done with a mixture of candor and kindness which made the book a remarkable human testament, which it urges ought be read on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.
"The Dream of the Islands Come True" indicates that the Congress, the President, flag-makers and citizens at large had generally been delighted in welcoming the newest state, Hawaii. It adds its echo to the homecoming firecrackers, indicating that the biggest stumbling block to statehood had been from criers of encroaching communism. Anti-Hawaii forces pointed to the 21,000-member International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union as a breeding ground for Communists.
It indicates that Harry Bridges, "a born troublemaker", and his lieutenant, Jack Hall, had a heavy hand in steering the ILWU and there had been charges that both men had been able to run their chips into a political jackpot.
Representative Francis Walter, chairman of HUAC, had been talking about that when he urged statehood to help Hawaii dispose of those who were strong and powerful. The Congressman had been known to dig under any convenient rock for Communists at the drop of a stone and had added that there was "no question but that Communist unions have a very strong hold on the economy of Hawaii."
It finds that while the ILWU had a certain influence in Hawaii, the record of its political victories had been poor. For example, the union had opposed strongly the Honolulu City Charter election, but the Charter had been ratified by a vote of 4 to 1, and the results had been likewise in other voting.
The newest state, it finds, was proud at present and it hopes it would never lose that refreshing islands idea of living.
Drew Pearson was out of town on special assignment and this date his column was written by his assistant, Jack Anderson, who indicates that Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy had his mouth washed out recently with some of his own product as former head of Proctor & Gamble, having been summoned to the White House by the President to explain a press conference comment that Russia could not launch a surprise attack in the current age of electronic espionage.
That was what the Joint Chiefs believed and what Mr. Anderson believed he had said to the press. When the President had read of it, he had flown out of his chair, uttering expletives. The next morning, Mr. McElroy, accompanied by Joint Chiefs chairman General Nathan Twining, whom Mr. McElroy had quoted in the statement, had gone to see the President, who made it clear that he did not want his military chiefs contradicting his nuclear negotiators. Mr. McElroy had meekly promised to guard what he said more carefully until he would return to Proctor & Gamble in June.
The appointment of Ogden Reid, former publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, as Ambassador to Israel had been described in a confidential Senate memo as a "lulu" put over on the State Department by the RNC. The memo had been written by the counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to its chairman, Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. In response, Senator Fulbright had called for a crackdown on the practice of handing out ambassadorships as political plums. The memo, dated February 5, had never been intended for publication, but the column had obtained a copy of it.
It had stated that the author had sent to Senator Fulbright a letter from the State Department informing the Committee that the Department expected soon to send along the name of Mr. Reid to become Ambassador to Israel, indicating that undoubtedly he was the individual whom one State Department officer had recently referred to as a "lulu" put over on the Department by the RNC.
Mr. Anderson notes that Mr. Reid had political ambitions in New York, whose large Jewish population could be influenced by his appointment to Israel.
Congressman Albert Thomas of Texas, who had a reputation in Congress for championing the little people, had gotten into a scuffle recently while championing a counter girl. The loser had been William Brockwell, manager of the House restaurant, who was nursing an injured back as a result. The encounter had taken place in Mr. Brockwell's private office, where Mr. Thomas had gone to seek a job for the counter girl. Mr. Brockwell had replied coldly that his employees were not subject to political patronage. Mr. Thomas, a power in the House, was not accustomed to taking no for an answer and the resulting disagreement had ended in a shoving match during which Mr. Brockwell had been thrown to the floor, his dignity and his back injured. The latter had been treated at a nearby hospital. The incident had been reported to House Speaker Sam Rayburn, who promptly hushed it up. Meanwhile, the two men were again friends. The Congressman had assured the column that Mr. Brockwell was "a fine man".
Mr. Anderson adds a P.S. that the counter girl did not get the job.
Marquis Childs indicates that the President had made it clear to the Congressional leaders that his view regarding the Berlin crisis was different from everyone else, seeing it as another effort by the Communists to force the U.S. to spend itself into bankruptcy. The efforts by the Congressmen to prod the President for more military spending or at least to rescind the cuts to the size of the Army and Marine Corps had gone nowhere. The impression had been that the President had his mind made up and had no intention of changing it.
The Democrats believed after the discussion that in view of the President's attitude, there was little they could do to prepare for a showdown on Berlin, which could require the use of at least limited force, an executive responsibility regarding which Congress could not force the hand of the President.
The Congressional leaders and later the committee chairmen, who had heard the President expound on his views more forcefully than he had done in a long time, pointed out that perhaps as much as a billion dollars appropriated over and above the White House request of the previous year had been held back. The President had received a jolt when a large portion of an issue of long-term Government bonds offered a month earlier had failed to sell in the normal commercial channels. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Anderson, on whom heavy responsibility rested, had become frightened and communicated those fears to the White House, serving to underwrite the strong feeling which the President already had about the need to balance the budget. And former Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey, with whom the President had gone quail hunting in Georgia, had reinforced that view in the President.
Regarding more money for missiles, the President had spoken forcefully and at length, saying that within a year, the Atlas might be obsolete and large additional sums to fund fixed sites and missiles above the budgetary quota would be wasted. He had given every appearance of being completely unmoved by the growing demand to make an effort to close the admitted missile gap, a ratio of 3 to 1 for the Soviets in ICBM's within the ensuing 2 to 3 years.
In a rather sad performance on "Meet the Press" on television, Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy had given the impression of a person who might have had other ideas if the line had not been so narrowly drawn by his superior.
The President repeated what he had said several times, that if it was a question of economy, he would rather see it in his military budget than in foreign aid, presaging the major conflict of the current session of Congress, as the Democrats showed increasing willingness to cut deep into the 3.9 billion dollars which the President had requested for foreign aid.
There was only one exchange which might wind up in reversal of the President. Representative Carl Vinson of Georgia, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had asked him a question about forgoing reductions in the ground forces, to which the President had firmly stated he would not do so, but believed it was possible to fix the size of the Army and the Marines by law at their present levels so that the President would have no option.
Mr. Childs concludes that often in the past, under the system of divided powers, the executive and the legislature had been at odds, but never before perhaps on an issue so critical in a moment so vital for the nation's future.
Doris Fleeson indicates that the President's comments on military policy at his press conference on Wednesday had been a model of confusion, that if they were calculated to obfuscate the issue for the Russians, the performance was a notable success, leaving reporters dazed. The President had ruled out a ground war in Europe in defense of Berlin, indicating that it would do no good to send many more thousands of troops or even several divisions to Europe. As against the 75 or so divisions which the Soviets and East Germans could transfer, no one would dream of fighting a ground war there.
Yet, when he was asked ten minutes later whether the U.S. was prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary to defend West Berlin, the President replied that he did not know how anything could be freed with nuclear weapons. When, toward the end of the conference, a reporter had asked him to reconcile those two views, he had said that nuclear war was not a complete impossibility but that nuclear warfare seemed to him a self-defeating thing. He said that what was needed was to stand right and ready to do what was necessary to protect the nation and never go back on its rights and responsibilities. If any threat or thrust in the direction of genuine hostilities came regarding Berlin, it would have to come from the side of the Soviets. The President indicated that he did not believe it would happen, but that if it did, there would be time to decide what the allies would expect to do.
Congress, in a doubtful mood about the wisdom of reduction of the armed forces at the current time, and fretful at the decision not to close the missile gap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, would not credit that statement by the President.
Press conferences, she indicates, and particularly those of President Eisenhower, were apt to give imprecise impressions. When the allies would reach any truly crucial points in the forthcoming conferences with the Soviets regarding the future of Berlin and Germany, they would know well what they were capable of doing and had to do in any of the possible eventualities. But even if the crisis faded, as it gave no sign of doing at present, the problem would remain and both Congress and the country would expect the U.S. to be ready with guns cocked and loaded if the real thing came.
We are skipping the three letters to the editor this date, as the print is so dim on the page that it is beginning to hurt our eyes. None of them appear by the titles ascribed to them by the editors particularly earth-shattering in any event. If you wish, you can try to trudge through them, but only after consuming, with Bugs Bunny, a healthy dose of carrots.
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