Iran-Contra

Now we have another Chuck Colson “born-again” government official Robert C. McFarlane (Commentary, Sept. 18) telling the shellshocked American citizenry how to restore trust.

Here we have another participant in one of the most seditious scandals of United States history--Iran-Contra--now out making a living with his “insider” knowledge of how your government can work for you.

With many of our cities involved in Vietnam-like “containment” policies in the war against crime and gangs, it is somewhat fitting that a high-level policy-maker in the Reagan Administration is the one to tell us what is wrong with our criminal justice system.

The highest crimes in any democracy are those committed by elected representatives of the people, as they ultimately are the cancer that destroys the foundation of trust that holds all together. Why should inner-city youths care about crime and punishment when the mostly wealthy elected officials of their government go about their own crimes and cover-ups on a daily basis.

DONALD SLAVEN, Huntington Beach