Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
From: [b--d--x] at [unix.asb.com] (Maximillien Baudelaire)
Subject: Walter Cronkite Special/War on Drugs
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 1995 22:51:51 GMT

Epilogue/Proposal by Walter Cronkite at the end of his _The
Cronkite Report: The Drug Dilemma-War or Peace?_, which first
aired on the Discovery Channel on Tuesday June 20, 1995 at 10pm
eastern time (repeat 3 hours later at 1am eastern, 12 central
June 21st... WATCH IT!!!):

     EVERY AMERICAN WAS SHOCKED WHEN ROBERT MCNAMARA, ONE OF THE
     MASTER ARCHITECTS OF THE VIETNAM WAR, ACKNOWLEDGED THAT NOT
     ONLY DID HE BELIEVE THE WAR WAS, "WRONG, TERRIBLY WRONG",
     BUT THAT HE THOUGHT SO AT THE VERY TIME HE WAS HELPING TO
     WAGE IT.  THAT'S A MISTAKE WE MUST NOT MAKE IN THIS 10TH
     YEAR OF AMERICA'S ALL-OUT WAR ON DRUGS.

     IT'S SURELY TIME FOR THIS NATION TO STOP FLYING BLIND, STOP
     ACCEPTING THE ASSURANCES OF POLITICIANS AND OTHER OFFICIALS,
     THAT IF WE ONLY KEEP DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING, ADD A LITTLE
     MORE CASH, BREAK DOWN A FEW MORE DOORS, LOCK UP A FEW MORE
     JAN WARRENS AND NICOLE RICHARDSONS, THEN WE WILL SEE THE
     LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.  VICTORY WILL BE OURS.

     TONIGHT WE HAVE SEEN A WAR THAT IN IT'S BROAD OUTLINE IS NOT
     WORKING.  AND WE'VE SEEN SOME LESS WAR-LIKE IDEAS THAT
     APPEAR TO HOLD PROMISE.  WE'VE RAISED MORE QUESTIONS THAN
     WE'VE ANSWERED, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE DRUG WAR STANDS
     TODAY.  WE'RE A CONFUSED PEOPLE, DESPERATELY IN NEED OF
     ANSWERS AND LEADERSHIP.  LEGALIZATION SEEMS TO MANY LIKE TOO
     DANGEROUS AN EXPERIMENT, TO OTHERS, THE WAR ON DRUGS AS IS
     NOW CONDUCTED, SEEMS INHUMANE AND TOO COSTLY.  IS THERE A
     MIDDLE GROUND?

     WELL, IT SEEMS TO THIS REPORTER, THAT THE TIME HAS COME FOR
     PRESIDENT CLINTON TO DO WHAT PRESIDENT HOOVER DID WHEN
     PROHIBITION WAS TEARING THE NATION APART:  APPOINT A BI-
     PARTISAN COMMISSION OF DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS, PERHAPS
     INCLUDING SOME OF THE PEOPLE WE HEARD TONIGHT, A BLUE-RIBBON
     PANEL TO RE-APPRAISE OUR DRUG POLICY RIGHT DOWN TO ITS VERY
     CORE, A COMMISSION WITH FULL INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY AND THE
     PRESTIGE AND POWER TO OVERRIDE BUREAUCRATIC CONCERNS AND
     POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

     SUCH A COMMISSION COULD HELP US FOCUS OUR THINKING, ESCAPE
     THE CLICHES OF THE DRUG WAR IN FAVOR OF SCIENTIFIC FACT, AND
     MORE RATIONALLY ANALYZE THE REAL SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM,
     ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT BEDEVIL US, AND PRESENT A
     COMPREHENSIVE DRUG POLICY FOR THE FUTURE.

     WE CANNOT GO INTO TOMORROW WITH THE SAME FORMULAS THAT ARE
     FAILING TODAY.  WE MUST NOT BLINDLY ADD TO THE BODY COUNT
     AND THE TERRIBLE COST OF THE WAR ON DRUGS, ONLY TO LEARN
     FROM ANOTHER ROBERT MCNAMARA 30 YEARS FROM NOW THAT WHAT
     WE'VE BEEN DOING IS, "WRONG, TERRIBLY WRONG".

     GOODNIGHT.

     -WALTER CRONKITE

p.s.- I would've posted this LAST night before the 2nd airing of it at 1am, 
BUT my SLIP provider was temp down :(.  BTW, anyways, if anyone can find an 
email address for the Discovery Channel or Walter Cronkite, could ya please 
post it and/or e-mail it to me?  Thanx!! =)

-Max =)