To the editor:

OK class, this morning I’d like you to write a short essay explaining the connection between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the current budget crisis in the Lawrence school district. Yes, it’s all right to mention the delusion of the American people who naively believed that they could fight two wars, cut taxes and generally ignore the laws of economic gravity while blithely pursuing the American dream.

Space permitting, you might want to explore how the military-industrial-political-entertainment complex has convinced many Americans that national defense has more to do with weapons and counterinsurgency than with public education and health. Please try to turn-in your essay by this time next week. If the doors to the school are locked, please hand-carry to the nearest recruiting station for processing.

Ray Finch,

Lawrence