PREYTORIAN GUARD RIDES AGAIN

I dunno who Don Krupp is, but I say give him an op-ed column. His letter to the editor in this morning's New York Times works for me.

To the Editor:

Re "No End to Questions in Cheney Hunting Accident" (front page, Feb. 14):

The debacle of Vice President Dick Cheney's misfire while quail hunting in Texas is a sad caricature of what the whole Bush administration is about: make an error in judgment, try to keep a lid on it, and then blame everyone else when the story inevitably becomes public.

When confronted with questions, the Bush White House tried to blame Mr. Cheney's hapless hunting partner for getting in the way. These, of course, are the people leading this country. Remember, these are the same people who misled the country about mythical weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

If we can't trust Mr. Cheney and company with a simple shotgun, why should we trust them with this nation's Defense Department?

Don Krupp
Olympia, Wash., Feb. 14, 2006

I suppose Don Krupp would have to be vetted before being given a column. Unfortunately, he shares a name with Alfried Krupp, patriarch of the infamous German armaments family, a k a the Krupp conglomerate. But from the tone of his letter I doubt that he's related. Nicht wahr?

Postscript: This arrived last night, Feb. 20, validating my belief in DK and, not incidentally, the wonders of the Web:

Dear Jan,

I just stumbled across your blog and your kind remarks about my recent letter to the editor in The New York Times.

As for being "vetted before given a column," I can assure you that I have no family relation to the Krupps of Germany. I am Polish and my surname is a shortened derivation of a much longer, less pronounceable name than the one my father was christened with - Krupowicz.

Thanks for taking notice of my letter. I had fun writing it and was thoroughly surprised when The Times accepted it for publication.

Regards,

Don