NEW YORK― Walter Cronkite, America’s trusted broadcaster and father figure to a nation for decades, has died in New York at the age of 92.
Covering the most important stories of his time – including the
assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Doctor Martin Luther
King, Jr., the ups and downs of the Vietnam War, Egypt’s breakthrough
peace treaty with Israel, and man’s first step on the moon – Americas
trusted Walter Cronkite to report the facts the way they were, as
symbolized by his famous sign off, “That’s the way it is.”
But even more, America trusted the words and judgment of the iconic
figure. After the 1968 Tet offensive, Cronkite declared, “We are mired
in stalemate,” prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson to rue the reality,
“If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.”
To the last, Cronkite was perceptive and engaged in the well-being of
his country and the world.
In the final four years of his life, he publicly recognized what is
perhaps America’s greatest and most perverse, if as yet unclaimed,
nemesis – the failed war on drugs.
Cronkite, watching with all America, a drug war of bipartisan making
from Nixon to Obama, could see resilient, ever-increasing drug
availability, increasing drug overdose deaths, the corruption of police
and kids alike, and American streets torn by turf-war and associated
crimes. So concerned was he that America’s chief reporter, protector and
friend, lent his name in support of a new organization of
law-enforcement leaders who have loudly and openly declared the
imperative need to legalize and regulate drugs so they can be
controlled.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is an international
organization, formed in 2002, coalescing a rapidly growing membership of
over 13,000 members in 76 countries. Recognizing that the war on drugs
has become a war on people, these former drug warriors – police
officers, narcotics agents, prison wardens, prosecutors, judges, FBI and
DEA agents – now call for the legalization, control and regulation of
all illicit drugs.
Walter Cronkite said of LEAP’s promotional video, “Anyone concerned
about the failure of our $69 billion-a-year War on Drugs should watch
this 12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking police
officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It is a
must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this issue.”
To watch the video, please click here.
Column by James E. Gierach, LEAP speaker, Palos Park, IL 60464, (708) 951-1601.
For further information Contact LEAP Executive Director, Jack Cole, (781) 393-6985.
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