Once again, the Washington Post casts its propietary gaze on Marion Barry's life. There is not one other public figure on whose intimate details you dwell over and over, now even reporting the comments of his AA sponsor. Surely, Marion Barry is not the only official inside the Beltway that your reporters can identify as having a notorious substance abuse problem.

Marion Barry has clearly failed those who hoped for the best from him. But by the standards of today's scandals and betrayals, he merely disappoints us. He has not sent any troops to die for oil and a lie. He did not concede and let down cheated voters waiting in line in the rains of Ohio. He has not schemed with high-priced influence peddlers to make his party's rule permanent. Only the race-tinged lens of sensational coverage can make him seem big and bad, and thus fascinating to your suburban readership.

In addition, Marion Barry is one of the few political figures of our day who in his youth was a genuine and undeniable hero. We can debate how various persons about town avoided service in Vietnam, or exactly how much risk or pain they faced there if they did go. But no one can deny that Marion Barry and other members of SNCC put their lives on the line for our country's Constitution. If we owe consideration to any veteran who went in harm's way for our liberties, we owe it to him. Please make an effort to show some sense of proportion about this man. Let your embarrassing decades-long vendetta finally fade away.

 

Larry Yates, January 2006