Reagan’s ‘Policies’

In all important areas, both foreign and domestic, President Reagan’s “policies,” if there are any at all, seem to boil down to a knee-jerk approach to the problem at hand. Consider the following recent policy approaches:

--The total absence of a defined policy in Lebanon that led to the death of 241 Marines.

--The President’s own “policy” of not trading with terrorists certainly turned out to be a contradiction between words and deeds.

--The President supported anti-drug enforcement. Good for him. Then he proceeded to withdraw money from the enforcement program.

--As to his past and current policy in the Persian Gulf, the President says he wants the Iranians to go to bed not knowing what we may do. In reality, I believe it is the President who goes to bed wondering what to do.

--Now he has a policy concerning AIDS, based mostly on mandatory testing. I believe testing of prospective immigrants is justified. As for prison inmates, just what will the government do when they test and find AIDS? That could be justified if, and only if, they could then refuse to parole or release any inmate found to have AIDS.

For the rest of the population, just what good will it do for someone to know who has AIDS and who doesn’t? That won’t cure anyone; there is still no cure for it.

It seems that if and when the President does have a policy it boils down to creating “apparent activity,” sometimes referred to as “smoke and mirrors.”

JAMES E. THOMPSON

Palmdale