To the editor:

I believe it was Dave Barry who explained that the word “politics” derives from two (Latin?) roots: “poli,” meaning parrots, and “tics,” meaning bloodsucking parasites. The bloodsucking parasites part is self-explanatory, and the parrots part must refer to bird-brained animals who glibly repeat phrases whose effect they have no way of really understanding, such as “war on terrorism.”

Lately a new phrase has been added to the parrot repertoire. It is “jobs Americans won’t do.” Even politicians I have some respect for have been repeating this phrase, though it is an appalling thing to say.

When a job is so bad that you can’t pay a decent American enough to do it, the solution is to change the job, not to import an underclass of people who are so desperate they will do intolerable jobs. To take advantage of others in that way is, to my mind, immoral.

I can’t think of any jobs that can’t be made tolerable by shortened hours, more pay, automation or some other change. Can you?

Kathleen Taylor,

Lawrence