4 February 2008

Rebukes from Prince Andrew

Dear Prince Andrew:

We hope you will wear your flak jacket while in the U.S.A. because the majority of Americans will consider you too cheeky to be tolerated.

We, Main Street, agree with you that our politicos should have sought/ should seek, expert advice when dealing with other countries, other cultures. Indeed, they might even seek some knowledgeable advice from well educated, well informed and well experienced Americans.

Our present culture precludes knowledgeable advice. We have computers with options A through E. We are a push button society, not a thinking one. Thus, if one approaches any politicians with any fields of interest or expertise which are not “one of the above”, one is routed to the closest alternative. President Clinton replaced our worker bees in the White house, real live people, with computer options. Onceuponatime one could call the White House and talk with the President, but that ended in the glorious 60s.

Mention Iraq and you may be thought to be asking about Raki. Our personal experiences have been to call/write our senators about such things as getting useful addresses for the Student Loan Program and thus be routed by Senator ‘s staff to A-complaint about college costs and reply with a gripe re own daughter entering college1 . We protested our national ignorance about dealing with Arabs and got the sympathy of another once-upon-a-time senator about our concern re Gitmo (we feel shamed and betrayed by some of our sadistic interviewers and camp followers, but that was not our protest).

We have suggested that each and every elected person should have a retinue of one dollar a year experts, retired but still wanting to serve their country. No reply on that. It surely did not reach the right box. It is none of the above.

In any event, good luck in our beloved country. Should anyone question your right to give advice, you could graciously reply : “ But is that not what your people do about the world?”

Sincerely,

TheMainStreetThinkTank

1. W do not believe in student loans; if any are actually up to university, why can they not work their way through as 12 generations of our ancestors have done.