Common Sense

From the gun lobby comes word that former President Ronald Reagan's desertion on handgun waiting-period legislation is at most a venial sin. "Understandable loyalty," intones the National Rifle Association. Loyalty, that is, to James Brady, Mr. Reagan's wheelchair-bound former press secretary. But that doesn't quite explain it away. At George Washington University ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination attempt on Mr. Reagan that left Jim Brady maimed, the President didn't sound lukewarm.

Sometimes a little common sense can go a long way in guiding and improving police policies. So, kudos to Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson for a new policy rolled out this week. It requires police officers to check with supervisors on whether to handcuff nonviolent children ages 11 and under who are accused of breaking a law. When the decision is made, the new policy states, it should be in the best interest of the child. Second that notion. The previous policy's rigidity - cuffing everyone during transport, no matter their age - treated all kids as though they were Scarface.

Just in case there was any doubt, the Eagles did everything exactly right Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. They stuck with the system, followed protocol, went by the book, did their due diligence, sent two concussed players into a game, and turned a fourth-and-1 situation into a fourth-and-6 by running their wide-threat quarterback into the middle from a shotgun formation. No, it all didn't really work out as planned, and everybody's got a little piece of that, and they're going to get it fixed, but, at no point, just so we understand each other, was it a question of not doing things the way we do them around here.

Capitol Hill has too many partisan preeners and not enough bold problem-solvers these days. So it's sad to see one of the boldest, Sen. Bob Kerrey (D., Neb.), setting out to retire at age 56. In announcing his decision this month, he didn't blame politics as usual. But the one-time presidential candidate, who didn't rule out returning to politics, did cite a need for spiritual replenishment. Mr. Kerrey, who was governor of his state before representing it in the Senate, had a hand in some real accomplishments of government in the 1990s.

What do you know: The apostles of common sense in this matter of "church and state" have won a sweet victory down in Seminole County, Fla. As a consequence, "Silent Night" has survived an assault by its foes, and little children may not be prohibited from singing the most familiar of all Christmas carols in the public schools. The story merits the attention of school officials everywhere, for it emphasizes what the Supreme Court has been saying all along. The constitutional prohibition against laws or official acts "respecting an establishment of religion" cannot be interpreted to ban voluntary, individual religious expressions that in no way are acts of the state.

There are only nine people in the world who understand NAFTA, and four of them don't speak English. I am not one of the other five. I do, however, know where I stand on the North American Free Trade Agreement, to call it by its full Christian name. I'm for it. How, you might ask, can I be for something if I don't understand it? Let's get real. If I waited until I fully understood everything before I formed an opinion, I'd be an annual columnist. What I try and do is get a general understanding of the arguments involved and find out who's making them.

Like any self-respecting knee-jerk liberal, I have always favored government regulation. I believed it was the public's only defense against the propensity of unfettered capitalism to exploit, pollute, oppress and gouge. Regulation, I thought, was God's way of making the Free Market System moral. I'm beginning to have my doubts. Oh, I still believe there's a place for regulation; I just wonder whether intelligent regulation isn't an oxymoron. Something there is about regulation that doesn't like common sense.

Francis Nicholson realized the bull market may have been going on too long when the tradesman laying wood flooring at Nicholson's old Rose Valley home downed tools and gave him a stock tip: "He said, 'You know City Service Co.? It's been good to me,'" Nicholson recalled last week. The exchange took place in the summer of 1929, on the very eve of the Great Depression. By then, Nicholson had already been working at Philadelphia's Provident National (now PNC) Bank for six years.

Common sense is on the decline, and junk food may be the reason. It doesn't seem to be a matter of economics, education or environment. Race or religion don't seem to make much of a difference. But the longer we live, the dumber we get, and the more inclined we are to act out our stupidity in public. That thought struck me last week when a Daily News photo introduced a group of motorcycle enthusiasts camped on the statehouse steps to protest Pennsylvania's mandatory helmet law. The 55-mile-per-hour speed limit also made them mad, and they summed up their whole argument with cute little sayings like "Let those who ride decide.

WASHINGTON - President Obama said Thursday that it was just common sense to keep girls under the age of 17 from being able to buy a morning-after contraceptive pill off a drugstore shelf. Citing his own two daughters, Obama said: "I think most parents would probably feel the same way. " Plenty of pediatric leaders and women's advocacy groups did not, as reaction flowed in to the administration's decision a day earlier to prevent the over-the-counter sale of the anti-pregnancy drug to sexually active girls of younger ages.