January 21, 2005

Cousins showed moral courage, but pledge kid didn't

I have come to terms with the liberal bias of the media and am content to search through the many opinions disguised as factual reporting to glean the information I seek. However, Sunday's front page left me shaking my head. Prominently displayed above the fold was the image of a 12-year-old who revels in all the attention he is receiving for disrespecting the very country that provides him the freedom to be disrespectful. ["'I changed the law' at 12," Jan. 16].

At the bottom of the page was an article ["Stafford NAACP fêtes 'heroes'"] about the actions of two people who, when they were teenage schoolgirls, demonstrated extraordinary courage by intervening in the lives of a bus full of children to remove them from a hazardous environment. As the 12-year-old did, they also defied prevailing authority, however, their act was selfless and demonstrated a moral character that is a model for every child in the world.

Principled people like the White cousins are what has made this country great, and to preserve it is why we send our young people into harm's way. People like the 12-year-old just get to go along for the ride.

How refreshing it would have been to have the story about the White cousins above the fold and the story of the 12-year-old on a back page where it belongs.

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck