Pubdate: Thu, 06 Apr 2000 Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Copyright: 2000 Amarillo Globe-News Contact: P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166 Fax: (806) 373-0810 Website: http://amarillonet.com/ Forum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action4 Author: John Wallace Note to DPFT-L readers: this is an example of posting to DPFT-L address in the Bcc: field and put in header lines as above, picking your own newshawk name. Put the article title in your subj: field. Send in Plain Text-that's all there is to it! Thanks WHY BOTHER? Regarding David Stevens' March 29 column, it is certainly reassuring to know there are still a few honorable people, like Larry Tannahill, who are willing to stand up for basic principles in the face of overwhelming opposition. And as for those pathetic fools in Lockney who actually believe they are "protecting" their children by chipping away at the Bill of Rights, Benjamin Franklin said it best: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." The government's War on (some) Drugs is nothing more than the modern equivalent of 17th-century Salem witch-hunts and 1950s McCarthyism. And the greatest irony in this particular case is that student drug testing encourages children to use the most dangerous, fast-acting drugs that metabolize quickly and therefore escape detection. And testing of adults turns them to legal drugs like alcohol and nicotine, which are far more dangerous than some of the illegal drugs. In Arthur Miller's famous McCarthy-era play, "The Crucible," he describes the atmosphere in Salem, and apparently in Lockney: ". . . (P)olitical policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence." I was thinking of sending a copy of "The Crucible," and perhaps a copy of the U.S. Constitution, to Lockney school board members to put in their school library - but I suppose they would just burn them. JOHN WALLACE - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea