Scratching

by Edd Doerr

Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano tells the story of the missionary who wanted to convert Indians in a South American jungle. He figured that if he could convert the village headman he could convert the whole village. So he spent hour after hour telling the headman about God, Jesus, the trinity, the Old and New Testaments, original sin, heaven and hell, etc.

When he finally finished his spiel, the headman sat silently for a while and then said, "White man, you scratch very very well, but you do not scratch where I itch."

It would be a cheap shot, of course, for me to say that the current gang of GOP presidential aspirants are scratching where most Americans do not itch.