Our founding fathers declared that the natural rights of man were life, liberty and property, and were the foundation of our society.

The rights of private ownership and the ability to preserve the fruits of stewardship have been the cornerstone that made the other two rights possible. Now, private property is under assault from many sources – the Endangered Species Act and wetland regulations come readily to mind.

They, too, are an example of over-zealous activists with a blatant disregard for natural law, scientific fact and common sense.

If the current trend is not reversed, then the private landowner will soon become an endangered species as the country slides toward socialism. Activists take note: less is best!

As they come through downtown Goffstown, they plan to pick up some additional runners and bikers who will join them for the final four miles of their trek. For those of you unfamiliar with the term “marathon,” the official distance is 26.2 miles. They will be covering that distance and more along the way.

This run is but one of many events that the students, teachers and staff have planned to benefit the Tardiff family in their time of need as well as to support cancer research through the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Many of us have known someone in our lives who has been affected by cancer in some way or the other. We know it can be a traumatic experience, both emotionally and financially. Within the school community of Mountain View, we take pride in the fact that our students and staff are caring and compassionate when it comes to helping others.

Since learning of Brandon’s situation just a few weeks ago, the school has rallied in support. We are planning a benefit spaghetti supper for April 19 and have already received generous support from many of our food vendors. Various teams within the school are planning dances, raffles, bracelet sales, etc., to support the cause. The concept of caring extends beyond the physical boundaries of MVMS. Principal Marc Boyd, of the Maple Avenue School, is leading a fundraising drive at his school where Brandon’s sister, Mariah, is a fourth-grader. Principal Jack Daniels, of Villa Augustina, has pledged 10 percent of all money taken in at their school dance on April 15. Other parents and community members have been generously sending in monetary donations.

How can you help?

Please consider sending in a monetary donation (of any amount) to the Brandon Tardiff Medical Fund. You should make all checks payable to “MVP” and send them to the Mountain View School, 41 Lauren Lane, Goffstown, NH 03045.

Come out and cheer on our marathoners on April 20. They plan to reach the Goffstown Commons by 8:45 a.m. and then proceed around the Maple Avenue School before heading down Elm Street toward Mountain View Middle School.

Join us for a delicious spaghetti dinner on April 19. There will be two seatings: 5:45 and 6:15 p.m. The cost is just $5 and tickets may be secured by contacting the Mountain View School at 497-8288. There will be dinner entertainment by MVMS students as well as some great raffle prizes.

If you have a business, or know someone who does, and would like to donate a gift certificate or item for our benefit raffle, please contact the school.

On behalf of the Tardiff family and the Mountain View Middle School, which is home to students from Dunbarton, Goffstown and New Boston, I thank you for your continued support and generosity.
Fred Deppe, Assistant Principal
Mountain View Middle School

In order to raise the rest of the money needed to build the playground, we have been holding a brick fundraiser for which there has been an overwhelming response!

The engraved bricks will only be sold until April 20. Forms are available at the town hall or by calling 529-2484.

The playground is scheduled to be built on Saturday, May 21, beginning at 7 a.m. until completion. We are in dire need of volunteers!

The construction will be supervised by Childscapes representative Steve Dibble, who has completed many playgrounds in the New England area. No special skills are needed. The only requirement is that one must be at least 16 years old to volunteer. All tools and instruction will be provided. In exchange for your hard work, you will receive breakfast, hot lunch and dinner and a feeling of pride when you see the completed playground knowing that it wouldn’t have been possible without your help Please call 529-1787 to volunteer or send an e-mail to lmweth@aol.com.

Thank you and hope to see you on May 21!
Lisa Wetherbee, Misty Oliphant and Kim Bergeron
The Weare Athletic Club Playground Committee

The tawdry public spectacle of Terri Schiavo’s spiral of death stands in sharp contrast to the dignity of Pope John Paul’s departure. Free of feeding tubes, Pope John Paul died in peace, surrounded by love and prayers and comforted by the physical presence of old friends whose loving hands soothed him as he began his passage on another journey.

In Florida, Terri Schiavo, free of feeding tubes, died in an atmosphere of acrimony and hate, guarded by police and ringed by heckling strangers and protesters. The pope showed us how to die; Terri Schiavo showed us how not to die. Our nation should hang its head in shame for these differences.

A family battle between loving parents and the estranged son-in-law became a political and legal battle that brought the country’s business to a standstill. Spineless politicians, wheezing with political fear scurried to Washington wringing their hands like Uriah Heep, pathetically currying favor to misguided zealots and distorting the constitutional principles that form the bedrock of our nation.

In what seemed like moments, we witnessed the hijacking of the legislative process by a determined few, with the acquiescence of many, and a private family matter, governed and controlled by state law became an issue of pressing and immediate federal importance. The political hucksters and religious shysters who injected themselves in the Schiavo family dispute deserve the strongest and most vigorous condemnation.

Equally contemptible was the absence of a coherent voice in Congress that spoke with passion or conviction against the folly of the effort, or the dangerous precedent it would create. Not a single United States senator stood in the well of that body to decry Congressional intervention into a personal family matter that had been the subject of seven years of litigation in the state courts of Florida, and not one senator made any effort to prevent the steamrolling of historic constitutional principles by the religious right. So-called liberals and moderates stood by passively and mute as the Congress of the United States became the personal tool box for Tom DeLay and his friends, allowing them to tinker with the federal judiciary for political gain. For the Democrats, it was an exemplary display of profiles in cowardice.

The federal judiciary was not so easily hijacked. Ours is a nation of laws, and our founding fathers recognizing the intemperate passions that govern human behavior, created a Bill of Rights and a federal judiciary designed to temper the excess of the majority.

Standing tall, the federal courts repeatedly refused to be drawn into the Schiavo family dispute. True to our founding fathers’ intentions, the federal courts refused to allow the political passions of the moment to become a part of our nation’s jurisprudence, and in clear and dynamic language, rejected the misguided efforts that would have allowed a federal court to assert jurisdiction over a state matter that had been fully and completely adjudicated.

Denying the parents’ last ditch appeal to the 11th C ircuit for rehearing, Circuit Judge Stanley J. Birch, a conservative Republican, wrote that President Bush and Congress had acted “in a manner demonstrably at odds with our founding fathers’ blueprint for the governance of a free people – our Constitution. But when the fervor of political passions moves the executive and legislative branches to act in ways inimical to basic constitutional principles, it is the duty of the judiciary to intervene. If sacrifices to the independence of the judiciary are permitted today, precedent is established for the constitutional transgressions of tomorrow.”

These words highlight the issues at stake as the Senate begins to offer its advice and consent on additional appointees to the federal bench. The religious right seeks judges who will transplant and transpose their political, religious and moral values into the legal jurisprudence of this country. The ease in which Congress allowed itself to be controlled and manipulated should cause every American who cares about “liberty and justice for all” to raise their voice against the stacking of the federal courts with judges whose legal reasoning is principally controlled and guided by fundamental religious doctrine and dogma, and to seek moderation in the leadership offices of Congress. Whether our nation’s civil rights and liberties will face “transgressions tomorrow” will be determined by how we act today. Prayer alone will not protect us.

In Rome, hundreds of thousands will make a pilgrimage of peace, love and redemption. In Florida, the Schiavo family will continue to fight about the internment of ashes and the results of an autopsy; peace and love will be glaringly absent. Tom DeLay said, “the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.” We hope he is right, and their punishment severe. Steven M. Gordon
Lucy J. Karl Law Firm of Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.
Concord