Stories reveal values, climate

I found the juxtaposition of two stories in the Jan. 29 paper to

be quite revealing about the current state of values in the area.

One story involved politicians objecting to the home delivery of

wine and beer with pizza orders, and the other involved the

enthusiastic response by area congressmen to President Bush’s State

of the Union address pushing us ever closer to war.

Why is it that local politicians object to adults drinking a beer

(or many) with their pizza in the privacy of their own home? What

kind of puritanical obsession is this? Is it that they find drinking

to be obscene, indecent or immoral? Even the police department, ever

worried about everything, had no objections to such a minor proposal.

But of course when it comes to the most obscene, vulgar and

pointless activity that we as human beings engage in -- war -- our

politicians have nothing but unqualified, impassioned support. We

need to see that as a community we are sanctioning the death of

hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqi civilians and countless numbers

of American and Iraqi soldiers in a coming war while getting

ourselves into a hissey about neighbors who want to get tipsy while

they eat pizza and watch the Lakers.

If these politicians truly represent the area, then I suppose I am

in the minority, but if not, let’s get these politicians out of

office and reassess what truly should be restricted.

Beer or war? You choose.

ROBERT FAY

Costa Mesa