Dear HCN,
In your story on the
Quincy Library Group (HCN, 9/29/97), I read the comments of Kent
Connaughton, shaking my head in agreement, until I got to his
statement, “When you work through the Congress, you get the
validation of the American people. It says that these are a valid
set of priorities that we expect you to follow.”
Working through Congress does not mean there is
a validation of the American people, and neither does it make a set
of priorities valid. Consensus does not make something valid; it
merely gets the people involved to a point of agreement, regardless
of the scientific validity of the agreement. Given enough time
and/or money, any of us could work something through Congress,
regardless of its validity. It’s being done all the
time.
Drusha L.
Mayhue
Bozeman,
Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline If Congress says yes, so what?.
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