SHERIFF: Earp II Johnson isn't

Adam Johnson running for election as Kootenai County sheriff? Tell me this is just a bad "Saturday Night Live" skit.

Tell me that Johnson knows he will be walking in the very boot-steps of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (1848-1929), who proudly served as Kootenai County sheriff in 1884. Wyatt Earp is best known for the "shoot-out at the O.K. Corral" and widely regarded as the "toughest and deadliest gunman of his day." You have to wonder how Johnson would stand up to the long shadow cast by Mr. Earp.

It would seem that Johnson fails the "toughest" test seeing that the Gang from Moses Lake beat the living tar out of him on that cold, hardtack night on Sherman Avenue. As for the "gunman" test, Johnson again shows a distant second to Mr. Earp. In the "shoot-out at Third and Sherman," the straight-shooting Johnson took out Tito Macaroni's window and the Painter's Chair Gallery storefront.

Strikes me that Adam Johnson running for sheriff is a little like the four-eyed, runny-nosed Little League right fielder hoping to be team captain.

Adam Johnson... you are no Ben Wolfinger.

ROBERT CLIFF

Coeur d'Alene