Throwing Papers at Dan Quayle
News item : Man throws some papers at Vice President Dan Quayle, is arrested and charged with assault (a felony), and now could go away for 10 years and pay a $10,000 fine (Part A, June 7).
Comment : This is another outrageous example of the loss of our civil liberties. Any citizen should be able to redress elected officials by throwing “documents” at them. No one is asserting that the vice president was hurt in any way. The charges against Mwenea Sikuzote are a sham. Had he thrown his “documents” at the Washington Post’s Ben Bradlee, for example, because he disagreed with an editorial, there would have been no arrest. Had he thrown his “documents” at the head coach of the Washington Redskins, because he didn’t care for the coach’s play selection, there would have been no arrest. Why should elected officials be so sacred as to be immune from hearing from an angry constituent in a non-harmful manner?
By the way, I am a Republican and a supporter of the Bush-Quayle Administration. Elected officials are, after all, merely people, not gods. I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same if I deemed it needed.
JERRY HERMES
San Diego
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