Pubdate: Mon, 27 Aug 2001
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)
Copyright: 2001 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ardemgaz.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/25
Author:  Brandon Lacy - Little Rock

THE WRONG NICKNAME

In the course of his evaluation of former Congressman Asa Hutchinson's role 
as a House impeachment manager, Gene Lyons apparently misunderstood the 
position to which Hutchinson has been confirmed.

The Senate recently approved Hutchinson's nomination as director of the 
Drug Enforcement Agency. Lyons mistakenly referred to him as the "drug 
czar," a nickname that is traditionally attached to the director of the 
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

President Bush has nominated John Walters to direct this office, but the 
Senate has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing. We can only hope that 
he, too, possesses endless zeal and a genius for self-deception, 
characteristics Lyon thought necessary of a drug czar and inherent in 
Hutchinson.

Perhaps those qualities will aid Hutchinson in his position as director of 
the DEA, but we will have to wait to see if they ever manifest themselves 
in our next drug czar.

I know the difference between the two positions means little to many people 
and makes no difference whatsoever in the substance of the argument, but 
the same might also be said of the difference between a trout and a 
small-mouth bass.

BRANDON LACY
Little Rock
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