‘Joan Kroc Should Stay in the Kitchen’
Thomas accuses Joan Kroc of gross naivete and suggests snidely that she shouldn’t depart from her area of expertise (“two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickle, cheese on a sesame seed bun”)--that she should leave the important matter of nuclear war to “the experts.” Caspar Weinberger, whom Thomas quotes extensively, is obviously Thomas’ favorite expert. Sorry, Mr. Thomas, but many of us aren’t willing to leave everything to “the experts.” And when we do need experts we search for more impartial ones than you do.
From what I’ve read I don’t believe, as does Thomas, that Joan Kroc is touting total, unilateral disarmament. What she is doing is simply encouraging people to think, to ask important questions. Our choice, fortunately, is not just between the two extremes, as Thomas would have us believe: (1) accept, without question, the advice of certain “experts” or (2) believe, naively, that communist governments are completely trustworthy and treat them accordingly.
No, fortunately, there’s a wide range between those two extremes, a range encompassing more sensible, more compassionate, and ultimately more promising paths to peace. Joan Kroc and many of us just want those paths carefully considered.
ELIZABETH WATSON
Fullerton
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