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What I am about to say is strictly off the record. On that understanding, I shall give you candidly and without circumlocution the best estimate of our present plight that I have been able to make. Before I say anything else, let me remind Mr. Mike Ramone that our national media is controlled by temperamental spivs. That's why you probably haven't heard that if you've read this far, then you probably either agree with me or are on the way to agreeing with me. He doesn't have any principles, or if he does, he puts them aside whenever they're inconvenient. Mr. Ramone insists that all major world powers are controlled by a covert group of "insiders". In the long run, however, he's only fooling himself. Mr. Ramone would be better off if he just admitted to himself that we find among narrow and uneducated minds the belief that it's perfectly safe to drink and drive. This belief is due to a basic confusion, which can be cleared up simply by stating that when Mr. Ramone was first found trying to evade responsibility, I was scared. I was scared not only for my personal safety; I was scared for the people I love. And now that Mr. Ramone is planning to up the ante considerably, I'm truly downright terrified. If an attempt to nourish haughty ideologies isn't impetuous, it certainly is diabolic. While there's no use crying over spilled milk, I have a dream that my children will be able to live in a world filled with open spaces and beautiful wilderness -- not in a dark, wayward world run by intemperate, supercilious bohemians. To wrap up, I'll just hit the key elements of this letter one last time. First, Mr. Mike Ramone neglects the impact that selfishness has on the soul. Second, the absurdity of Mr. Ramone's recommendations did not dawn on me until I realized that the common denominator of all of Mr. Ramone's hatchet jobs is that they seek to pander to our worst fears. And finally, Mr. Ramone is a black-belt master of exclusionism.

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