When my mother-in-law, “Lady Lil” Lane, died last year the medical personnel pointed out that her hearing was the last sense to go.  I tested this by speaking to her as she lay comatose and asked: “Lil, are you in there?”  I believe I reached her as she was departing, leaving her life’s journey.  She made a small movement that was unlike the motionless declaration of a body that once was alive with energy and crackling with the pains of age.

She did not need me speaking to her at this point but I needed to speak to her.  I need to write my essays and they are simply voice messages being sent abroad via the miracle of e-mail.  But which are the voices that need to be heard?

The news if filled with these voices: witness the op-ed page of today’s NY Times. There are four pieces on the page and each with a different concern, each demanding to be heard.  They are titled as follows:  “Don’t Judge Judaism by the Numbers”; “Crazy in the Hood”; “Is Osama Pea-Green?” and “Switch”.

If I read them correctly and hear what they are saying their messages are as follows.  Douglas Rushkoff is telling us that judging Jews by their attendance numbers at religious functions is not as important as say, sending money to Israel but most important is the message they are sending to the peoples of the world. Most of the world has embraced the concept of monotheism, the gift of the Jews, but have not understood the underlying idea of the brotherhood of all people.

Thomas Friedman comments that North Korea is South Korea’s “eccentric Aunt”. North Korea has “THE Bomb” but this bothers the U.S. more than the North’s southern neighbor and relative.  Yet, Saddam Hussein in Iraq is Washington’s chief target and war plans go on even though Saddam does not have “THE Bomb”.

Maureen Dowd points out that Osama bin Laden must be “Pea-Green” with envy now that the U.S. rarely mentions him.  U.S. President Bush is busy shouting the news that Saddam Hussein must go.

Finally, there is not only the voice of “Tom Paine.common sense” but pictures of three Republican senators in the bottom right hand corner of the page entitled “Switch”.  We are told here that these three Republicans, Snow, Chafee and Spector should switch their party or just cease being Republican to do America a favor.  They are “moderates” who could dampen the vigor of the Republican majority that thinks it has a mandate to make sweeping changes here in America as well as begin a war in the Middle East.

Voices of reason cannot be heard for all the babble going on.