When A Library Is Open, No Matter

The Printed Page Conveys Information And Commitment, And Requires Active Involvement. Television Conveys Emotion And Experience, And It's Very Limited In What It Can Do Logically. It's An Existential Experience - There And Then Gone.

In Tracking Down And Eliminating Terrorists, We Need To Change Our Metaphor From A "war On Terror" - Exactly What, Pray Tell, Is That? - To The Mind-set Of Interpol Tracking Down Master Criminals Through Intense Global Cooperation Among Nations, Or The Fbi Stalking The Mafia, Or Local Police Determined To Quell Street Gangs Without Leveling The Entire Neighborhood In The Process.

In One Way Or Another, This Is The Oldest Story In America: The Struggle To Determine Whether “we, The People” Is A Moral Compact Embedded In A Political Contract Or Merely A Charade Masquerading As Piety And Manipulated By The Powerful And Privileged To Sustain Their Own Way Of Life At The Expense Of Others.

The Most Encouraging Sign Is That 71 Percent Of The Public Believe The System Is Profoundly Corrupted By The Power Of Money. Ninety-six Percent Of The People Believe It's "important" That We Reduce The Influence Of Money. Yet 91 Percent Think It's "not Likely" That Its Influence Will Be Lessened. Think About That: People Know What's Right To Do Yet Don't Think It Can Or Will Be Done.

Television Can Stir Emotions, But It Doesn't Invite Reflection As Much As The Printed Page.