Bob Van Velkinburgh Says: "I'm as mad as hell...!"

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" These are th words of the character, Howard Beale, in the 1976 movie, Network. Howard was upset with the turn of world and national events as all Utahn should be with our lawmakers over their recent actions. They decided to build a $15 million garage for themselves and not even debate a $2 million emergency funding bill giving critical dental care for 40,000 elderly, blind and disabled Utah human beings.

One reason given by Senate President John Valentine, was, "There's no need to debate a bill that's going to fail." What arrogance! The Senator knows it's going to fail because he is going to make sure it does.

Investing $2 million in state funds would have garnered $5 million more in federal funds. John, what were you thinking? Were you mad at the Governor and wanted to perform another one of those "cut off your nose to spite your face" things like you did in the Legacy Highway lawsuit? Utahns should get mad as hell and not elect you again.

In the face of a one billion dollar surplus comes Representative Sheldon (double taxation toll road) Killpack. Killpack, who heads the Health and Human Services budget committee under funded the state Medicare by about $12 million because he forgot to take into consideration the state's growing population. He says it wouldn't be fair to fund this program over the $12 million budget shortfall. Does he expect Utahns to buy into that?

Utahans need to get mad as hell and do something about it. NOW!


HOWARD BEALE'S SPEECH FROM THE MOVIE NETWORK (Rated R)

Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!

We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy.

It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."

Well, I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad!
I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad. You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

Bob Van Velkinburgh

dccwc@aol.com