What’s in a name? Shakespeare would have us believe that a name is not the essence of its subject. Was that the intention of the current administration in devising such noble sounding titles as “No Child Left Behind,” “Clear Skies Act” and “Roadless Areas Conservation Act?” Ask an educator (and many knowledgeable parents) how their children are being “left behind” by the requirements of that cleverly titled act. How does an act allowing polluters to continue poisoning the air we breathe warrant “clear skies” in its title? And, would any of us guess that roads will be built to provide for drilling and mining in our once protected national parks and preserves under the guise of “conservation” of the roadless areas?

Less devious and more accurate titles might be “Children Left Behind,” “Dirty Skies Act,” and “Roadless Areas Trashing Act.” Perhaps, in the interest of credibility, we should rename this administration the “Bush-Cheney Regime.”

Nancy Prince, Wilton

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