
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995                   TAG: 9502080012
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY PUT . . .

VIRGINIA has a state dog (foxhound), a state bird (cardinal) a state shell (oyster), a state beverage (milk), a state fossil (Chespecten jeffersonius) and, of course, a state song of some controversy.

But an official state reptile? Tucked amid this session's General Assembly shuffle is a bill to designate such a beast, and the nominee is the rattlesnake.

No hisses, please. It could do some good, if it gets lawmakers to stop saying, ``Let's kill this snake!'' - a legislative cliche almost as tiresome as bit bullets and babies thrown out with bath water.

National newspaper ads last week for the forthcoming Walt Disney Co. movie ``Jefferson in Paris'' featured images of the U.S. Constitution.

Oops! Wrong document. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was another famous Virginian, James Madison, who's generally regarded as the father of the Constitution.

If Disney revives plans to build a U.S. history theme park in Virginia, a few remedial lessons may be in order, lest we get Spike Lee surrendering to Cary Grant at Appomattox.

by CNB