Allen Johnson: 'Andy Griffith' as the official state TV show? I'm in.

So many thoughts, so little time and space ...

SOME PEOPLE roll their eyes at legislation that would make The Andy Griffith Show the official TV series of North Carolina and would just as soon nip it in the bud in favor of more pressing issues.

But Im OK with it.

While there are bigger issues in this state, House Bill 557, sponsored by Rep.

Neal Jackson, R-Randolph, may provide a welcome respite from the trench warfare on Jones Street.

Ive loved the show since childhood and Ive always been comforted by its gentle humor and homespun wisdom.

Frankly, it may be the one thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on in Raleigh these days.

I only hope lawmakers will watch a few episodes for a refresher course on its moral lessons, which I fear some of them may have forgotten: People are also reading...

Responsible gun use: Sheriff Andy Taylor doesnt usually carry one but arms himself when necessary.

Bungling Deputy Barney Fife does but is routinely ordered to surrender his bullet when he misfires.

Which is often.

Soft power: Andy Taylors approach epitomizes community policing, using compassion, wit and reason rather than force to keep law and order.

No militarized police: Not that Barney didnt try by buying an Army surplus motorcycle with a sidecar, but we all know how well that worked out.

No ridiculous Southern accents: Aside from early episodes in Season 1, Mayberry is bereft of overcooked drawls.

OK, except maybe for Gomer and Ernest T.

Bass ...

History as fact and not revisionism: The The Battle of Mayberry (Season 6, Episode 29) is a cautionary tale about idealizing the past.

After hearing conflicting accounts from locals about their ancestors heroism, Opie does his own deep research and discovers that the grand battle was actually a drunken peace fest over a jug of corn liquor among the townspeople and Native Americans after a Cherokee accidentally shot Floyds great-grandmothers mean old cow Bessie.

THE CONCEALED CARRY bill in North Carolina has to be one of the stupidest notions in this state since the notorious bathroom bill, HB 2 (which is making an unwelcome comeback.) Even people who see the Second Amendment as sacrosanct should realize how patently irresponsible it is to allow 18-year-olds to carry concealed handguns without a permit, much less anyone else.

Someone, please tell me how this makes us safer.

AS BOTH the Guilford County and Forsyth County school districts wrangle with yawning budget gaps, the pressure should be on state lawmakers to do their duty and adequately fund public schools.

In Guilford County, the school money crisis also sheds a harsh light on a missed opportunity.

Voters in Guilford keep saying no to a quarter-cent sales tax that would have created a relatively painless way to help address the needs of local schools.

Guilford is a conspicuous outlier in this respect.

Even voters deep-red Rockingham County have approved such a tax but in Guilford tax apparently is a four-letter word.

MY ALMA MATER barely got into the NCAA Tournament this year and didnt stay long.

But, according to a study that valuates mens college basketball programs as if they were businesses (and for all intents and purposes, they are) the University of North Carolina has the most valuable college basketball program in the country.

Carolina had a net worth of $378 million) ...

more than national champion Florida (31st), runner-up Houston (58th) and, yes, Duke, which placed No.

2 at $370 million.

I guess the analysis by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, goes to prove that winning isnt the only thing.

And that at least were No.

1 ...

at something.

SPEAKING OF NO.

1, when Spanish amateur golfer Jose Luis Ballester urinated into iconic Raes Creek on Augusta Nationals 13th hole during the Masters last week, the gallery saw him and applauded.

And some golf traditionalists were beside themselves with indignation.

I say loosen up.

No, it was not an ideal tableau on one of the most picturesque courses in the world, but as a runner of a certain age, I can sympathize.

When nature calls, its not known for its patience.

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