I walked around a bit, found the gate for my next plane and sat down to wait for boarding. When what should appear before my wondering eyes but a bunch of cheerleaders and the Arizona Cardinals football team, heading to the Twin Cities to beat up on our beloved Vikings.

I was reading a book, so I didn't notice most of the shenanigans taking place around me. But then one fellow called out to a cheerleader standing just across the aisle from me. He crouched into a lineman's stance and came charging down the narrow aisle. The cheerleader laughed and fended off his brutish advances. They were in high spirits and waiting for the big game the next day in Minneapolis.

Of course, the Vikings beat the Cardinals by 20 points, and I'm sure the cheerleading entourage was much quieter as they headed home without a victory. This was the first time the Cardinals had earned a place in the NFL playoffs since 1947, and one can understand how their spirits rose and hope for a championship soared.

This feeling isn't new to Minnesotans, however. The Vikings have been to the playoffs several times, but usually we've lost in the first game.

For Arizona, the team has failed to recognize reality. I liken it to starry-eyed fundamentalist Christians and others who have battled so hard, so long to bring their brand of justice to the world that they can't see anything but their ultimate success. And if they aren't successful or hear other points of view that threaten their beliefs, they build tight, little communities that are insulated with solid walls and steel doorways. And then they tell each other the story of how Jesus loves those with a clean heart and a clear mind. Of course, they mean that Jesus loves them -- not liberal-leaning, mush-minded believers who won't say Jesus is the answer to every human problem.

I've known a good many fundamentalists in my time, and they are, for the most part, trusting and loving people. But they're also people who feel they must find the ultimate, dead-right-on answer to the human condition.

For instance, take the Clinton-Lewinsky issue in Washington, D.C. Fundamentalist Christians have made certain the American public knows how much they revile the man and his morals. But some say the impeachment issue has been engineered by the fundamentalists. As far as I know, not one person has specifically accused the big guns of fundamentalist Christianity -- such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell -- of conspiracy to bring the downfall of President Clinton. So where's the reality check here?

Others say the tobacco industry has a nicotine-stained hand in Clinton's troubles, because he targeted cigarettes as one of the evil influences affecting our society. Could they be behind the effort to unseat the president? Could that be reality?

Many people on both sides of this epic battle stand in the background, silent until the doors slam tight and the curtains shut out the light. Many have money and a good number have influence beyond our wildest dreams. But if you think the only players in this drama are the people on television, you are in need of a huge dose of reality.

So what is reality? Many forces play a part in this critical issue at our nation's capital. Most of us feel we are without power and are left a nation chewing its collective fingernails while a few hundred lawmakers and their ilk determine our future. Our only option is watch the drama unfold in newspapers and absorb the headlines as they blip across the screen on television.

This is not a time for cheerleading. It is a time for quiet. Take a break and pray for the United States of America.

Clark D. Morphew