WORDS OVERRIDE ACTIONS

Maybe legislators in Jefferson City have been watching too much of the name-calling on C-SPAN that passes for congressional dialoge these days. So too, apparently, have the editors of some newspapers. And what about the veteran corps of reporters who have watched polticians come and go in Missouri's Capitol? Have they also caught the demogoguery-makes-news fever?

There is no question that the final days of the recently ended regular session of the Missouri General Assembly did not -- how to put it? -- fit the expected mold that makes writing news stories pretty much a cookie-cutter exercise.

Just look at the Kansas City Star news analysis and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial reprinted below, alongside a rebuttal from state Sen. Peter Kinder, who regularly contributes to this page.

What you will see is that rebellious Democrats caused Gov. Mel Carnahan to use words like "extremists" in public -- and goodness knows what in private. You will see the Post-Dispatch erroneously claim that Kinder called opposition to a bill to give tax breaks to parents of parochial-school students "anti-Catholic bigotry." And you will see the Post-Dispatch itself fall into the name-calling quagmire.

Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can sure gum up the real issues. It is time for leadership, not a war of words.