Letter: Another look at rights and responsibilities

Wednesday, July 5, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Hal Rothman's July 2 column - "Why this country needs a Statue of Responsibility" - was interesting.

Perhaps the good professor would be willing to extract from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution all those passages that articulate those individual responsibilities he is so anxious to impose on us.

"Responsibility" is just a government / elitist code word for a system that Abraham Lincoln described as: "You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it." His "divine right of kings," wrapped up in a pretty package of love, compassion and "services" that somehow keep coming up short of their promises, are outrageously expensive and are constantly in need of more "bread."

I agree with professor Hal Rothman that Alcatraz would be the perfect place for a Statue of Responsibility. Unlike the professor, I know exactly what it should look like: It should depict a family, on their knees, tears on their faces, the children huddled close to their parents, arms reaching up pleading for mercy with a fully armed and body armored SWAT officer standing above them.

A nearby plaque could say: "One nation with responsibilities and obligations for all."

Knight Allen, Las Vegas