SIMPLE AND SENSIBLE AND SURPRISINGLY SENSATIONAL

Last week Sean Penn was a guest with Charlie Rose. The interview was two hours, spread over two shows. At the start  of the second ,Charlie stated the previous hour had been watched by the  largest audience of any in T.V.history. Twenty million people ,world-wide had watched . 

Sean Penn had interviewed a Mexican drug lord.... in hiding after a peculiar escape from a Mexican jail... The actor wrote a five-thousand word article for Rolling  Stone magazine and came under considerable criticism for his effort.  

Charlie Rose was merciless in his challenge. 

Why did you do it ? What was your objective .....were questions repeated over and over. The answer was strong and consistent. 

The decades long, government multi-million dollar war on drugs is a failure. Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands more are in jail. Still the government does not turn attention to the demand for drugs. All sectors of society are tragically affected. Society is complicit in the problem. 

The actor felt his objective had failed. Public attention focussed elsewhere. 

The interaction between host and guest was great television. Intense  drama about a major problem growing worse. 

Most interesting for me was that, Mr. Penn's claim he  does not attempt to provide answers. He does not tell readers what to think. 

He sets out what he has learned and leaves it to readers to form an independent conclusion.

As information grows and changes, conclusions evolve and solutions can adapt.

How simple and sensible is that ?

I take  great comfort from the logic . Despite that  Mr. Penn declared his objective had  failed. 

Watching the  bad reality  show passing for the Republican Presidential nomination and similar puerile political  performances  closer to home ,one might easily despair .

The beacon of light from the earnest endeavor of Sean Penn, Charlie Rose  and a growing number of others like them is enough to give us hope.