Opinion

When folks in Washington want to find out what’s on the mind of the American people, they tune in to CNN or Fox News and listen to the best of the Washington talking heads. Not me. I have breakfast at my favorite diner in Eufaula, my hometown in Oklahoma.

To the editor:

Al Gore, who fancies himself planet Earth’s savior, proved again last week he doesn’t even live on it.

There appears to be a conscious attempt underway to shift the grounds of the current American political debate in preparation for this fall’s presidential campaign.

A new police report shows off-duty Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Edward Lattin had more marijuana in his system than state law permits when he triggered a three-car crash that left one person dead last month.

It’s easy to get down on Las Vegas, especially during these dog days of triple-digit summer. We’re aggravated by the inadequate roads and highways. We’re frustrated about the underfunded schools. We feel helpless about an economy wholly dependent on distant vacationers. We’re bewildered by parents who kill a mentally disabled child by leaving him in a hot car for 17 hours.

If we had no armed central state to seize money from people against their will and fund the government schools, we’d have no tax-funded government schools.

One thing we’ve always known in the newspaper business — or ought to have known — is that we’re not necessarily being truthful by being factual.

Ron Taylor, a Clark County middle school teacher, upset his bosses. He raised questions about how they were spending their money. He complained about the health care benefits they set up. Worst of all, he tried to recruit some of his fellow teachers to join a union — the Teamsters — and have it certified as their bargaining agent.

To the editor: