78-02-B2

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Transcript How can a $2.28 ash tray become a problem in international relations? Sounds impossible and a little bit ridiculous doesn't it? But, never underestimate bureaucracy . There is a fellow in Philadelphia who has a cousin in Salisbury, Rhodesia. The Philadelphia cousin has a birthday and the Salisbury cousin sends a present--a $2.28 ashtray. The package arrives in Philadelphia and immediately the postal and customs authorities go into action. The U.S. is, after all, a party to United Nations sanctions against Rhodesia. The Philadelphia cousin is notified that the package addressed to him is an "unlicensed" import. Now, you and I would think a sample answer to this bit of bureaucratic nonsense would be to return the package to the sender, namely the Salisbury cousin. But, you and I don't realize the seriousness of the situation. The Philadelphia cousin is told he will have to apply for a re-exportation license to return the package to his Salisbury cousin. He appeals to his Congressman who is unable to shake the Treasury department (there will be no exceptions to the sanctions on Rhodesia). It's too bad the Salisbury cousin didn't live in Moscow or Leningrad. If he had, the ashtray would have been delivered right to Philadelphia cousin's door. On another front, here's an item you could say had to happen after the government put up $5 million for the recent International Women's Year Commission. A man in Florida has brought suit on behalf of all American males, demanding $5 million to be put up by the Federal government to fund a Men's Year Commission. And, I suppose this next item is also something we should have known was bound to happen. With voluntary prayer banned from our public schools, Christmas has been tolerated so long as there was no reference to its religious significance. So there has been no singing of "Silent Night" or "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing". They were replaced by "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer". The star in the east and a babe in a manger were out, but children were permitted a decorated tree and, of course, jolly old Santa Claus. But maybe his days are numbered. The Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties union has decided even the present method of recognizing Christmas threatens the Constitution. A spokesman explains that Santa comes on Christmas Eve so he has acquired a religious significance and must be expelled from the classroom. That goes for the decorated tree and, naturally, singing about red-nosed Rudolph would remind you of Santa , so it must join "Silent Night" and the other outlawed songs. But when these zealous busybodies have had their way and every traditional symbol of the day--the reindeers and sleigh, Santa and the lighted tree and of course the nativity scene--have been banned in our schools, won't they come to the name of the day itself? And what will they do about that? This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-02-B2 Production Date 01/27/1978 Book/Page Online PDF Audio Youtube? No
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