76-07-A4
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Crime I[edit]
Transcript[edit]Is it possible that with some of our problems, we're ignoring obvious answers and looking for solutions as complex as the problems seem to be. I'll be right back. More years ago than I like to remember, let's just say a couple of decades before TV, when radio was still exerting its magic spell, I was witness to an incident which had something of a lesson for all of us. In those days an important part of any radio drama was the sound effects man, an inventive fellow equipped with a trunk full of gadgets. There were half coconut shells for the sound of horse's hoofs, a wooden train whistle, cellophane which when crumpled in his hands could be either a cozy campfire or a raging inferno. A limitless array of just things and stuff with which he could improvise. The incident I mentioned had to do with a radio drama being rehearsed for airing on WHO Des Moines where I was a sports announcer. During the several days of rehearsal, the sound effects man was trying everything to get the sound of water falling on a board. He tried rice on a drum, dried peas on cardboard and all sorts of other combinations without success. Then in desperation he tried "water on a board". Believe it or not, it sounded just like "water on a board". Sometimes I think government should try "water on a board" instead of the social experiments which are tried in good faith but which fall short of results. During the war on poverty back in the sixties, there was a federal program designed to reduce the number of high school dropouts. Money was provided for schools to hire students who were perceived as potential dropouts. They were paid to stay after school and clean up classrooms, wash blackboards and that sort of thing. Then an order went out that the jobs must be given solely to kids who had gotten into trouble. It only took about seven minutes for a good kid to realize he had to toss a brick through a window, snatch a purse or something of the kind to be eligible for some easy after-school money. Watching the TV news the other night, I was reminded of "water on a board." A Los Angeles lady was asking the county board of supervisors, "What have we done to our country?" She had been beaten and her purse snatched by three young people, two boys and a girl. A witness, a kindly black lady who'd come to her aid told the police the three assailants had gone into a nearby house. They were found hiding in a closet. The victim said, "My arm was broken, I spent the night in jail. Now I have no nerves in that arm. I am 78 years old I raised three children by myself, put them through college. I never asked for a penny from anyone." Now she lives in perpetual terror. She said, "I never open my door after five o'clock at night. I'll have to move. We used to have a great country." And then she asked, "What have we done with it?" The county hearing answered her question with a chorus of, "Not enough money," "A need for more facilities," "training programs" all the usual reform ideas for a type of crime that grows more prevalent day by day. This is "rice on a drum" or "dried peas on cardboard". The young man who knocked her down and stole her purse got one week in jail and a year's probation. It is past time to try "water on a board." Let's just start treating 17-year old muggers, robbers, rapists and murderers like muggers, robbers, rapists and murderers. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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