Exploding Children

The use of children in time of war is historical fact. The Greeks used boys as effective members of their fighting force and the military historian Plutarch believed that the age of sixteen was acceptable for service. It was the Biblical David who was sent out as an adolescent to wage battle against Goliath. Throughout medieval Europe young men were conscripted and used along the back of the battle lines as military aides, delivering messages and running necessary errands. Lord Baden-Powell recruited boys as young as twelve to function as scouts and provide reconnaisance during the second Boer War. Because of their slight frames and agility they were effectively used during the Siege of Mafeking.

During the rise of Nazi Germany a concerted government effort was put in place to mobilize the young for war. The Hitler Youth was originally established as the "Jungsturm Adolf Hitler" to provide a conduit of future manpower to the "Storm Regiment", a paramilitary wing of the German Nazi party. These youth military pods grew to approximately 300 units scattered throughout Germany, with Adolf Hitler and his war machine eventually drawing upon them to join the S.S. By 1943 young men ages 14-18 began to function as a military reserve to be drawn upon as increasing military losses were reported in the field. The Iron Cross was actually awarded by the Third Reich to some of these man-child soldiers.

Fast forward to 1989. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 38) sets the following benchmark: "State parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities". In 2002 this was amended to state than any person under the age of eighteen years should not take a direct part in armed conflicts.

Where do I personally stand on this issue? I think it is dictated both by culture and the times in which we find ourselves. During the early days of the British Royal Navy young lads were used on the ships to relay powder and shot from the ship's magazine to the gun crews. During World War II underage American sailors found their way to our ships by lying about their ages to then serve in the Pacific corridor. I do support a minimum enlistment age in our armed forces but am cognizant that in some cultures, a sixteen year old may be considered at an "age of maturity" based on both ability to procreate and support a wife.

But the role of the children in the mix of things in Afghanistan is beginning to bother me a bit these days. We all know the prior history. In the 1970's the Soviets had maintained somewhat of a client-state relationship with Afghanistan, sharing military hardware, training and advisory expertise with the Afghan government. The relationship began to crumble as the Afghan government sought more autonomy. In April of 1979 there was a coup d'etat against the administration of president Muhammad Daoud Khan. A steady prepositioning of Soviet advisors and military personnel followed. This culminated in the assassination of the second president of Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin and his family members strongholded in the palace on Dec. 27, 1979. By the next morning, the Soviet army was moving two divisions across the border. We know the rest.

The Soviets eventually got their asses kicked. Mountainous regions provide more ready defense. And it took them too long to figure out that there wasn't a bolt, firing pin or basic weapon that a Pashtun or Tajik couldn't hand build for continued use. But in the interim from invasion to cognizant realization, Soviet troops mined the country, destroyed beautiful pomegranate and fruit orchards and engaged much evil against the civilian population. They intentionally maimed Afghan children with trucks and dolls rigged with explosives. Nothing like fleeing the borders with your tail tucked and leaving behind the gift of an exploding toy for a poor Afghan kid. As a woman, mother and decent human being my anger still flares. The Soviets crossed a universal moral line when they did such things. I always say, "Kill me but don't touch my kid." That is one reason why I chose to take the oath of office in 1994. My youngest son was still in diapers. But I looked at him and thought, "I am expendable now. Our family tree has two new branches. I have done my part for the family. Now it is time for me to do my part for the nation."

But the Taliban!! The Taliban is beginning to surpass the Soviets in the arena of community harm toward children. Little girls are denied education. And word on the street is that these men are increasingly recruiting the young to serve as pack mules for explosives. Oh, not to merely transport explosives from one area to another. The child is the payload. The child is recruited and indoctrinated to be a Shaheed. The Taliban is taking children; ones who have not yet attained to an age of reason, and committing crimes against their own seed.

We should sustain remorse over what the Soviets did in Afghanistan creating exploding toys and maiming the young. There are adults in Afghanistan today walking around with missing limbs and blindness from the upheaval of the past. But what should be our thoughts when evaluating the Taliban? They are creating exploding children.


Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Why R.N.'s are Leaving Hospital Bedside Nursing

Hospitals have their little secrets. Our day surgery unit does not have a room “13”. It is just a means of circumventing what might be a small anxiety for a surgical client who believes in bad luck. There is nothing like checking in for surgery on Friday the 13th and getting a room with the same number.

What is not a secret is how healthcare and equipment are evolving to take care of our increasingly obese clientele. Unfortunately, what is not evolving in the "survival of the fittest paradigm" is the nursing staff. We are just killing our backs, putting our hernia repair on a "lay away plan" and hoping that our bodies can withstand the assault from day to day. No, no! It is not the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes". It is the assault we withstand caring for people with the shape of Humpty-Dumpty.

Trade secrets include weighing grossly obese patients on laundry scales, and in more than one instance and at more than one hospital, sending a particularly heavy patient in an ambulance to be weighed at the zoo. Yep, the zoo. The big animal scales, ya' know. This has nothing to do with bringing indignity to a fat person, but everything to do with giving safe care. Many drugs have pharmacokinetics tied to weight for proper efficacy. We need to know weight if a patient is hemodynamically unstable, on vasopressors, etc.

Our hospital has purchased a wheelchair that looks like a stroller for sextuplets. It has a long seat with a nice width and sturdy handle on the back so that two employees can trundle along behind. Actually, I laid down on it once and my 5’2” frame almost fit. About like sleeping on a rack in the field with the Navy.

The latest innovation is “obese rooms”. Naturally, they will not be publicly labeled as such, but indeed, they will be set up to care for our more portly clients. My own hospital has a couple such rooms in the works and a local competitor just opened a five story bed tower where each floor has an obese room available.

There are “Big Boy” beds, chairs and a lift system from the ceiling which can be used to place the individual in a harness and sling them along to the bathroom and shower. Talking with an individual who is close to the design team, I am informed that the toilets will sustain a weight of 1,100 pounds. Yowsa! If we will just install that toilet in our PACU lounge the nurses on staff for the day shift can all just take a tinkle break at the same time. Just let that thought sink in. Let it scare you. Nurses like me are caring for people who are double and sometimes triple our own weight. I have cared for more than one patient quadruple my weight. And you wonder why there is going to be an increasing shortage of nurses?

Already, our facility has been modified for obesity. Newly remodeled floors had wall-mounted toilets for ease of housekeeping staff in cleaning underneath them. It ended up being a very bad deal. Incidents where the seated "patrons" managed to yank the toilet off the wall with their weight ensued. We had plumbing problems and a bit of embarrassment to handle. We now have nice little signs over these specific toilets that state they sustain up to 300 pounds and that if the prospective user is over the limit, they are directed to a bathroom with floor-mounted toilets. Some of our wall-mounted toilets will receive a reinforced frame.

Don't even wonder what it is like to put a urinary catheter in a five hundred pound woman. You really, really do not want to know. But nurses are leaving the bedside. Our level of back injuries and other injuries is comparable to that of construction workers. And what are nice professional women with four year nursing degrees to do? Let me FAX you my resume.

Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Aviation Terrorism

No surprise here. The TSA has issued a warning that terrorists might be practicing “dry runs” and securing small bits of bomb-making materials on flights. This scenario has been discussed by media for some time now. We all know that “next time” there will be no warning. No time to duck down and send one last message to a family member on the cell phone. In a second, it will be over.

When I was a passenger on the second leg of a flight from China to San Francisco a couple years ago the man in the seat next to me was very skittish. Three rows up, a family of four had settled in quietly. But as soon as the first wave of snacks was being passed the adult male headed to the bathroom taking a backpack with him. Not particularly concerned myself because the family profile showed two boys reading Harry Potter books and the mother engrossed in a word puzzle I still made a trip to the back of the aircraft to speak with a flight attendant. The other passenger was driving me crazy. Yes, they had seen the man and the air marshal had been alerted. Returning to my seat I advised the man to take a sleep aid and forget about it. We made our flight and my next flight home was uneventful. But in the world of aviation terrorism it does not take much to pull off the big boom in a pressurized cabin catching the jet streams across the Atlantic to London.

We have come a long way from the nascent stages of explosives science and simple dynamite to where we are today. Aviation sabotage such as that seen on Air India in 1985 which killed 329 passengers or that of Pan Am Flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 269, remain in the bad news column. The detonator in the Air India flight was an altimeter device. The explosive device in the Pan Am flight was packaged in a cassette player.

The infamous wannabe shoe bomber, Richard Reid, attempted his little trick with the plastics explosive pentrite packaged into his shoe. Ever since that event we are obligated to show our bare feet to total strangers at the airport as our shoes move down the conveyer belt for an x-ray by the TSA employee. This same explosive was found by French sniff-hounds (literal dogs) on a passenger jet from Morocco. It was wrapped in foil and placed between seat armrests. No fuse was found. Naturally, it stands to reason that the fuse would have found its way on board on a subsequent flight.

Aviation terrorism has evolved along with advances in device physics and other sciences. Our detection capabilities are increasing and do a good job of keeping pace with the threat. Trace explosives detection equipment in airports will check your passport, currency and other items for trace explosives. Full-body view x-rays of our shadowy naked frames will satisfy the deepest psychological cravings of some TSA employees and nauseate the majority.

So the statistical odds of your intra-flight dismemberment are probably equal to the likelihood that you will suffocate in a death roll fight with a crocodile. But that is no solace to the families who have already suffered loss of a family member with an in-flight act of terrorism. So if you are one of those people who continues to insist on behaving stupidly when boarding a flight, just cut it out. I had my manicure scissors snatched out of my cosmetics bag and my bag wanded for explosives last time I passed the boarding gate. No big deal. But so you may be convinced, just remember the following two bits of information:

*Ramzi Yousef made a nifty little in-flight bomb using two 9 volt batteries retrieved from his shoes, a bottle of contact lens fluid which contained nitroglycerine and a Casio watch. Yes, it worked.

*Highly suspicious in aviation circles are peroxide based solutions which can be used to make nice little liquid improvised bombs in flight. London has a nice little cache of some of these items.
So catch your next flight with a low level of anxiety. If you do observe anything strange report it. Understand that other people on the flight who are trained to keep you safe have probably already noted the event. And by all means, have a safe flight.

Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

General Peter Pace, USMC

"What are you willing to give up for free speech?" This thought was thrown out to a journalism class at Texas Christian University by a Democratic party candidate who had just lost the election to a powerful Republican incumbent. I have never forgotten that moment. This man's challenge shot through me like a bolt of lightning. When it was my turn to stand up and deliver, my own voice sounded hollow in my ears, with insignificant little words, dwelling under the shadow of such profound thought.

General Peter Pace, USMC took the challenge in March. It cost him his job. While interviewing with the Chicago Tribune he was asked about the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy which allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not commit homosexual acts. After confirming his support for the policy General Pace stated the following:

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts.... I do not believe that the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.... As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behavior) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior."

We all know the truth. Let's not treat this topic in such delicate manner when we are talking about the career of a Marine. General Pace took the hit for free speech from an intolerant and self-righteous, powerful gay lobby.

General Pace lost his job. He has kept his faith. He was denied a second well-deserved tour of duty as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has kept his integrity. He has not suffered a humiliation. It is impossible to humiliate a Marine who is the stature of this man. He has kept his uniform unstained and none can take his honor.

In today's political climate Jonathan Edwards would not stand a chance. But it is those who wear the cloth of our nation, able to speak in restrained manner, who are best able to defend both our physical lifeblood and the foundational lifeblood of our nation: Free Speech.

Are you willing to lose your job?

Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Preface to Blog

The original post on General Peter Pace, USMC can be found in the archives: 16 March 07

Should you have time please also read "Guns and Tongues" in the archives: 27 May 05

It is time to revisit the topic of Freedom of Speech.


Tammy Swofford

Justice and State are Messes

Mr. 25% approval rating is getting it from all sides. Talking Points Memo has been savaging the Justice Department for quite some time, and Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle explained why nobody cares what Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice thinks.

Paul Kiel in TalkingPointsMemo.com reports that Hans Von Spakovsky and his pal, Bradley Schlozman, seem to have been hired to make sure the wrong kind of people didn’t get to vote, especially in areas in which Bush would lose if they did vote. He is not longer at the Civil Rights Division, but is, wait for it, a Bush nominee for the Federal Election Commission.

In addition to being a crook, von Spakovsky is also an inveterate liar. In 2005, von Spakovsky, a politically appointed senior lawyer at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told the Arizona secretary of state that voters had to have proper ID in order to get a provisional ballot, thus disenfranchising thousands of voters. When asked about this decision by the U.S. Senate, von Spakovsky claimed he had consulted with the department’s career attorneys. When six voting section lawyers wrote the Senate saying that von Spakovsky was lying, he changed his story and allowed as how he “may not have consulted with the Section prior to” drafting the letter. In a forced follow-up letter to the Secretary of State he said he thought he had consulted with the section, but he also reversed his decision in the first letter.

Von Spakovsky Schlozman and Section Chief John Tanner worked to ensure the passage of voter identification laws in Georgia and elsewhere -- sometimes overruling the recommendations of staff analysts and attorneys, who found that the laws might discriminate against African American voters.
Before he left the Justice Department, von Spakovsky tried to punish the lawyers that told the Senate he was a liar by doctoring their performance reviews to make it look as if their performance was below standard. The ploy backfired when the attorneys challenged their reviews and won, once more leaving von Spakovsky with some explaining to do.

In an unheard of turn of events, the flaks at Foggy Bottom have been unable to place an opinion piece by the Secretary of State. Condi felt moved to write about Lebanon and enlisted the help of Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers, to co-author a piece about public/private partnerships and how they might help rebuild Lebanon after last summer’s war. The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Financial Times, among others all gagged on references to Bush’s wise leadership, and turned down the piece, saying that it read like a campaign ad.
Looks like there is no spin left.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

The DPRK: Feeding the Wolf

In looking at North Korea, all the recent glad-clapping for the Six-Party Agreement reached in Beijing in February 2007, cheers all around, may I remind the readership: Please hold your applause. I don't believe we are to the last act on this stage. If we look at the historical equation, the North Korean's adept use of diplomatic deceit and tie it into the current world situation, it remains premature to put on our party hats.

We have come a long way from our policy of nuclear deterrance, which focused on the Soviet Union as the primary target, until their empire crumbled. Fast forward to a post 9/11 environment and a world where the rules have changed. Our government now more proactively seeks dismantling of explosive devices and delivery systems and abandonment of fissile material in the DPRK. The Congressional passage of the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which was originally shaped in 1991 to assist in non-proliferation and destruction of weapons stockpiles in the former Soviet Union, expanded to include the same type of program and assistance beyond the borders of the collapsed "Iron Curtain". Assistance and involvement of the DRTA merely underscore today's reality. Nations such as North Korea maintain weapons programs which are invaluable to states and regions which seek nuclear capabilities on a smaller scale. North Korea also adeptly engages nuclear blackmail as an a la carte political option.

But we continue to feed the wolf, when it comes to the DPRK. In 1994 there was the much lauded "Agreed Framework" under the Clinton administration. Since 1995 the United States has given one billion dollars in foreign aid to the DPRK, with sixty percent of this in the form of food aid and 40 percent energy aid channeled through the Korean Peninsula Energy Development. This aid continued to flow after there were speculations and then confirmation that Dr. Khan, head of Pakistan's nuclear program, was providing both technical expertise and material support for North Korea's developing uranium program. "But grandmother! What big teeth you have!"

The buy/steal market for acquisition of both nuclear technology and parts is to put it bluntly- a crappy deal. And America continues to bear the brunt of cost as seen in the "10+10" proposition of the G8 leadership when meeting in Canada in June 2002.

President Bush stated that he was pleased with the agreements reached at the Six Party Talks in Beijing. (Feb. 13, 2007) Dr. Condoleeza Rice was ebullient. What a deal! Begin shutting down and sealing your nuclear plant at Yongbyon in exchange for a start-up wager of 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil. And begin shutting it down in sixty days! Euphoria all around.

Naturally, it is not to be. North Korea began stalling again. They wanted their 25 million dollars back which the United States government had frozen in 2001 at a bank in Macao. The money was transferred back. Supposedly "Stage I" of the agreement, with the closing of five main facilities at Yongbyon did occur this week. But just Friday (and may I say it is no surprise) negotiations came to a screeching halt again. Disarm? yawn Who said the word "disarm"? North Korea really needs the additional 950,000 metric tons of fuel oil to feel comfortable about all of this stuff. Deadline? What deadline? Road map? Ah yes, a future road map. And yes, by all means feel free to have another bowl of kimchi before you leave.

The month of September sounds like a good time for a fresh round of talks according to the DPRK. Of course, that is after the last of the 50,000 tons of fuel oil promised on Feb 13th is delivered in August. Agreements are only as good as ink on the paper for some governments. And yes, we may all clap now and go home.


Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Stamping our Passports for Next Week

Let's move across the DMZ next week and take a peek at the nuclear program in North Korea. Please keep in mind that I barely passed college physics. smile

But if you care to be part of the "Advance Party" please read the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act this week-end. Otherwise, travel with the "Main Body" on Monday.

Tammy

Rushdie, Gibson and Serrano

Salman Rushdie and "The Satanic Verses": Never read it.

Mel Gibson and "The Passion of Christ": Saw it once.

Andres Serrano and "Piss Christ": Has a bad odor to it.

These three things men and their works represent diverse forms of artistic expression. (I use the term loosely with regards to Mr. Serrano) Mr. Rushdie wrote his book, Mr. Gibson directed his movie and Mr. Serrano urinated in a glass jar and photographed a plastic crucifix floating in what most of us flush down the toilet. But the three men share a common experience. Controversy, elevated their works and added value to what they produced.

In the case of Mr. Rushdie, a fatwa issued against him sent him into hiding but put his book on a national bestseller list for 25 weeks in a row. After the fatwa, a consortium of publishers released his book in paperback. Safety in numbers, was the line of thinking. "The Satanic Verses" can now be purchased as a "back list bestseller" for $10.88 at Amazon.com. Due to the controversy, Mr. Rushdie saw his body of work more closely examined, the cash register kept ringing while he was under wraps, and he is now a well-known lecturer. His professional perch is at Emory University. Last month, he received a knighthood and is now "Sir Salman Rushdie". He survived through the first fatwa. He has not survived well on the homefront. His fourth wife just filed for divorce. Another fatwa has been churned out against him. May he remain luckier than his counterpart Dr. Rashad Khalifa. But controversy again, will surely increase Sir Rushdie's marketability.

Mel Gibson produced "The Passion of Christ". When Hollywood snubbed their noses at his work the backlash from the Christian right made the film a success story. Yes, I admit it. I was one of the many who saw the film the first week-end it came out. I have always been a bit anti-establishment and this was just another opportunity to show a bit of cocky individualism. If there had been no controversy I would have probably skipped the movie. Mr. Gibson then brought about his own decline with personal controversy involving a drunken tirade and some rather nasty remarks directed toward Jews and a potty mouth to a lady.

"Piss Christ" by Andres Serrano was all about shock value. But what shocks today, will merely titillate tomorrow and bring boredom the day after. He had his fifteen seconds of fame and became the darling of the deranged among the artistic cliques in our nation. He then faded into obscurity. Can anyone name any of his other works?

When Madonna hung on a cross and was lowered to the stage during her latest tour the protest was not as severe as she probably anticipated and she did not get the expected mileage from the controversy. She actually looked a bit pathetic to me. No longer young enough to pull off the look of a high dollar call girl, looking more and more like the wilted madame. But the right to free speech does include the right to poor taste. smile

Controversy sells. Normal living, like my own life, is not worth the reading or a glance by a gossip column snitch. But should anyone wish for an interview, I can clear my busy calendar. The world of insomniacs await my words. And in short order, a good night's sleep will follow.

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Stalking: When Love becomes Obsession

The "love" chapter in the Bible, I Corinthians 13, aptly lists what "love is": patient, kind, not puffed up, etc. It also tells how love "does not" act, such as to behave rudely or parade itself. But after talking to one of the volunteers at work, listening to her fears for an adult daughter trying to distance herself from an old boyfriend, it reminded me that the overall context in reading what is expressed in the book of Corinthians is that love does not harm the other person . And when an old flame turns up the heat to jump start a dead battery of emotions and does not succeed, what was once a shared joy can become a stalker with a victim.

Dealing with a broken relationship and willingness for both parties to reconcile can be hard enough. But when pursuit crosses the line to stalking the process can be in emotional shades of grey. So I think beyond knowing what love is, it is also good to consider what "love does". Sometimes, love requires a party to just walk away, to do no harm. And if one of the parties involved expresses anxiety that a sense of lack of safety has entered the relationship, it is time to consider whether the behavior has progressed to an unhealthy stage. Is the relationship now one of stalking as opposed to romance?

Determining when healthy pursuit degrades to stalking is a tough call. Distancing ones self from the shadow of a stalker can be hard on either sex. But it is more fraught with a sense of danger for the female of the species. The average male of equal size has tremendous physical advantage should surveillance stalking move toward physical aggression in pursuit of the goal.

Many of us are unfamiliar with stalking laws. The penal codes vary from state to state. The state of Kentucky law defines "two or more acts" as the standard. Texas law uses the words "on more than one occasion" and Washington says "intentionally or repeatedly" and puts cyberstalking in a category all its own. Other states subcategorize a majority of acts under a harassment category. Having served at Naval Hospital Guam, I pulled up that particular penal code and noted with a chuckle that they had made it a point to note that the "section does not apply to conduct which occurs during labor picketing". There must be a story behind that statement.

Very few local police departments have anti-stalking units as a fenced asset. So a resource for a young, scared, single mother with three small kids is not always available, as in the case presented to me today by the employee at work. This link gives a quick overview of some cases which made the headlines. Just thinking that a stalker could be living in the crawl space of my home, gives me a chill. But such things have indeed happened.

The Navy has common sense guidelines for pursuit of a relationship. Here it is. "Anything but yes, means no." Get it? Silence, means no. "Maybe later" means no. "I am not sure" means no. In other words, be realistic. Follow the three strikes and you are out rule. Then walk away. Because love, does no harm.

Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

The Feudal Barony of San Diego

When I lived in San Diego in the early 1960s, it was filled with inoffensive, simpleminded folks who were competent to discuss the weather and the condition of the ice plants (succulents that were used as ground cover), and that was about all they cared about.

Maybe it is that their Congressman, Duke Cunningham, had to go to jail, but the people of San Diego have left the United States and formed their own little police state. Poor people not welcome. The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches is, in the words of Ron Zigler, “inoperative.” The poor, in need of public assistance, must give up their right to privacy or watch their children starve.

If you apply for public assistance in San Diego County, you have to agree to allow investigators from the district attorney’s office to make unannounced inspections of your home. They will look through your medicine cabinet, check out the closets and dressers, and poke through the laundry and the trash to discover an unauthorized male.

In San Diego, the fear of welfare fraud trumps the Bill of Rights and that is perfectly jake with local judges, and the federal appeals court in San Francisco, that refused to hear the case.
I am sure there are lots of able-bodied people who are unwilling to work but demand to be paid by the taxpayers, but they are in Congress. The poor of San Diego generally do work, but the cost of living is so high, and wages so low, they can’t make ends meet without a hand.

The San Diego way is wrong on so many counts that it is hard to believe even Bush-appointed judges would decline to hear the case. There is no presumption of innocence. There is no probable cause. And the law is not being applied in the same way to all people. Farmers receiving subsidies are not subjected to the same treatment. Radio and television station owners, who are given the right to use the airwaves, a public property, don’t have caps pawing through their underwear drawers. The only people who must endure this indignity are those least able to protect themselves. Just one more reason to give Southern California back to Mexico.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

Young J. Edgar Hoover: The Making of a Despot

An axiom of journalism holds that there are no new stories: only new reporters, editors and readers. Kenneth D. Ackerman’s "Young J. Edgar Hoover" traces the reactions of small people to attacks on this country. Those reactions are almost exactly the same as the reaction of the Bush administration to 9/11. The big difference is then there were giants like Clarence Darrow, Felix Frankfurther and Louis Brandeis who stood up to government overreaching.

Albert Camus observed that men rebel in search of justice. But, if they win, they are likely to be more tyrannical than the government they overthrew. Ackerman deals with a rebellion which began with the Molly McGuire movement in 1870s Pennsylvania and progressed into the International Workmen of the World’s One Big Union movement of the early 1900s. Then, as now, much of the labor in this country was performed by immigrants, either legal or illegal, under appalling conditions. Strikes were put down by breaking the heads of the strikers and the workers fought back.

One attempt involved sending 17 letter bombs through the mail. One blew the hands off a maid at the home of Senator Hardwick of Georgia. Thanks to an alert New York City postal official, the rest were intercepted.

Then, on the night of June 2, 1919, nine bombs, all set to go off at a little after 11:00 PM were set in Washington, DC, Boston, MA, Cleveland, OH, New York City, Patterson, NJ, Pittsburgh, PA, and Philadelphia, PA. One of those bombs damaged the home of U.S. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer. More by luck than skill, the bombs killed only two people, the person trying to plant the Palmer bomb, and a night watchman outside Judge Charles Nott’s house in New York. Although an Italian-English dictionary was found in the bomb’s detritus, Palmer used the event to mount a campaign against Russian immigrants on the grounds that they were Bolsheviks. Palmer enlisted the aide of a 24-year-old draft evader named John Edgar Hoover to plan and carry out what became known as the infamous Palmer Raids, in which thousands of people were rounded up, beaten and then released for lack of evidence, rather like today’s alien combatants.

Hoover, a recent Georgetown law school graduate, was a tireless worker, a magnificent organizer and a data sponge who collected information on thousands of people. Unfortunately, Hoover was also completely indifferent to the laws, rules and regulations of the land. He was also a facile and fluent liar. Presumption of innocence was as alien to Hoover and Palmer as it is to Alberto Gonzales, the current Attorney General. Palmer and Hoover also shared the present administration’s aversion to a prisoner’s right to counsel and the right to be informed of the charges against him. Palmer and Hoover worked for a president, Woodrow Wilson, who was more interested in the League of Nations than domestic policy, so they were left entirely to their own devices.

After Palmer’s raids were exposed and the Attorney General skulked into deserved obscurity, Hoover managed to get himself appointed director of the Bureau of Investigations, as the present Federal Bureau of Investigation was known, by the expedient of lying to then Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone. Hoover told Fisk that he really had nothing to do with the Palmer raids. Incredibly, Stone believed him because Hoover had been much too young for much responsibility in 1919. Apparently, it never occurred to him that Hoover might be too young for the responsibility he was giving him.

Thus began a 50 year reign of illegal surveillance, black bag jobs, and mind boggling spin that has made the FBI what it is today.

Oh, by the way, after the Palmer Raids it was discovered that the bomb which destroyed Palmer’s house was probably planted by members of the Galliani gang of anarchists working out of Lynn, MA. By the time their involvement was discovered most members of the gang had left the country. However, two members, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Venzetti, were executed for another crime after a trial of questionable legality.

Young J. Edgar Hoover ought to be read by anyone who would rather study history than repeat it.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

REDEFINITION

Al-Qaedah has redefined warfare. Their model allows state sponsored terrorism by nations and political entities which do not have the means to mount an aggressive assault against the West. It also deflects the immediate heat off their backs. Default aggression uses soldiers of fortune with the hard currency of the financial market, but more importantly an ideology which stamps the passport with "Paradise" as a final destination in return for acts of carnage. And in a day in which the internet corridor can be accessed across the globe, Al-Qaedah is using the internet to reach the disenfranchised immigrant population in the West. With a click of the mouse, the manipulation of human flesh continues.

This evolving doctrine of non-delegation distances the real players from the pawns of convenience in the chain of responsibility. The "delegation" no longer makes an appearance at the table of negotiation for responsible action. The "delegation" shows up outside a bar in Bali or at a hotel wedding in Jordan to deliver their message. No longer is there a need for any state sponsor of terror to come against the military might of another nation. Churn out a few suicide bombers, distance yourself from their acts, file your nails and don't break a sweat. The responsibility is shifted to the one whose DNA is being scraped off a car. Yet intelligence officers will spend months trying to figure out who in the hell is really responsible for murdering a few hundred people. They know that the planner for the default aggression is probably sitting on a couch thousands of miles away. This is the menace which Al-Qaedah has brought to the table. They threaten, extort, intimidate, and act aggressively beyond any defined legal boundaries of war. There is no diplomacy and their business card is merely the toe-tag on their next victim.

As our troops continue to provide the magnet of confrontation in Iraq, our opponent has a bigger magnet which is drawing new recruits into its ranks. This magnet draws civilians to attack civilians. But in reality, a trained civilian becomes a combatant moving in strength against a civilian population. Each Al-Qaedah cell, each individual suicide bomber, a strike force unit against us.

Sadly, this new generation of warfare also affects the psychological landscape. When people are attacked, they want to face off with the aggressor. They seek retribution. The enemy must be identified and brought to justice. But with the Madrid train bombings who is the enemy? The 7/7 tube bombings of London? Possible ricin attack? Who is the enemy and where do we deploy our troops? Worse yet, the proposed chemical attack in the Hashemite kingdom which if unleashed would have killed tens of thousands? Who is the enemy? And in looking for the lowest common denominator, we surely note that all of these attacks were carried out by Muslims. Bingo! Enemy identified!

So how does the average American citizen fit in the scheme of things? What happens to us psychologically if we are attacked again and come up short on feeling protected by our government? What happens if we have visualized the enemy based on the lowest common denominator and as we look out our window "they" happen to be our next door neighbor or the person we hand our dollar every morning for a caffeine jolt on the way to work? And just as the internet can be used by those that hate us, it can also turn the hearts of men who currently harbor no hate against Muslims. My e mail can attest to that fact.

But Muslims must confess to their own share of blame instead of giving the media their usual scripted response on these things. Seepage of this violent Al-Qaedah stylized ideology has been encouraged in mosques around the world, including the U.S. for many years now. It is a vile contagion. So.... how will American Muslims feel when the next attack on our soil is carried out again? Will they feel exploited or ashamed to have been duped for so long? Will our nation suffer a slow Balkanization process somewhat along the lines of what is already happening in Europe?

Al-Qaedah's message against the West has gutted Islamic culture. It has driven deep fault lines into Muslim communities in the West. Now the ripple is also in the political stream of Muslim-majority nations where the "powerless" (both rich and poor) see Al-Qaedah as the answer to their political marginalization.

Increasingly, there will be greater allocation of funds to intelligence as the means to protect our people. This new generation of warfare requires heightened skill sets for our diplomatic corps. It requires concurrent evolving doctrine regarding our own foreign policy. There is increased global vigilance.

But it is time to bring redefinition for what we face in the 21st century. For me, the stakes are higher than they have ever been for the survival of the United States of America. I do not want merely a structural integrity of our geography, no further attacks on our soil. I desire psychological integrity as to what it means to be an American. Our troops can leave Iraq. But tomorrow the soldiers of fortune of Al-Qaedah will remain: scattered across the globe, lethal and silent, until they do us harm again. The view that America should be a melting pot for all people will cease in the eyes of some Americans if we sustain another attack. The evisceration of our gut in viewing mass civilian deaths might be followed by the snatching away of our collective soul. This is my America. I want it to remain free, strong and a place with a landscape of peace. It will require all Americans to pull together, as Americans first. Strongly, for the good of all. And for those who would comfort and support this enemy? Strong legal penalty.

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

21st Century Warfare

Do your own private reading this weekend. Focus on Al-Qaedah. They have spawned the new generation of warfare using a doctrine of non-delegation and default aggression which is the pattern for state sponsors of terrorism. Suicide bombers and soft targets are being used to change the rules of the game. These rule changes are subtle and dangerous both physically and psychologically for our nation. We will explore these thoughts further on the Monday blog.

Our nation's ability to both formulate policy and realign resources as needed, will determine how well we are able to continue to avert future attacks on our sovereign soil. But the bigger attack of this new generation of warfare shakes the foundation of culture. It must be grasped how Al-Qaedah is threatening culture on a global scale. Laws of armed conflict no longer apply in the ultra vires environment of Al-Qaedah.


Tammy

Requirement for the Blood of Patriots

A couple years ago my Navy dress blue uniform came out of the closet for a funeral. Walking down the aisle to view the young man in the casket wearing his Army uniform I stopped a few feet away. Fleeing the sanctuary of the church to the solitude of the bathroom, I held back my tears. One of the young men who had accompanied the draped casket home from Baghdad did not do as well maintaining his composure. Bowing his lanky frame over the lectern, he wept loudly as he described his friend. My own emotional switches are too many and the threshold set too low. By time for my trip home most of the switches had been flipped in my own psyche and I alternated between curses and tears for what 9/11 thrust upon our nation. For on that day, we became a nation which recognized we were at war. This was not a war of our own choosing. The bombings of our sovereign domain in Kenya and Tanzania, the bombing of the USS Cole, were just precursors to give us a taste of what was to come. The threat was marching steadily toward us while we did not yet perceive it.

Like the attack on America on 9/11, Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the road map to war. But it was actually precipitated by events in the 1930's. When Japan invaded and took Manchuria the United States provided financial aid to China and also cut off shipment of fossil fuels and raw materials to Japan. The animosity between our nations existed long before the plan was formulated and executed against us. And like at Pearl Harbor, aircraft were in flight to attack the Twin Towers as individuals went about their ordinary daily business. People at Pearl Harbor were unaware that war had been declared against them until the first bomb dropped. Likewise, groups of people boarding flights on 9/11 were not aware of the fate that awaited them. Because on 9/11 the payload was not on military aircraft laden with bombs. Civilian aircraft were used as guided missiles with human components: the citizens of the United States of America.

We have now come near to the six year date since our nation fell under attack. We have sent our men and women to war and they continue to move out into the theater of operation. This week a report will be released which assesses the status of political benchmarks set for the nation of Iraq. The benchmarks of amending the Iraq constitution, approving and holding provincial elections and disbanding militias have shown "no progress". Laws to regulate the oil industry or move forward with revision of draft legislation regarding Ba'ath policies have shown negligible progress.

Overall, the strategic goals and policy goals for Iraq will show a flunking report card based on the benchmarks. And if the benchmarks to measure progress are manipulated in the final draft what value is in the process? Dilute truth can be a lie and distorted truth remove viability from future planning goals.

The truth must be told regarding the benchmarks. It is not so much about when the troops should come home. It is about the troops we have laid to rest. A truthful assessment is the requirement for the blood of patriots.

Tammy Swofford


tammyswofford@yahoo.com

The Curious Compassion of George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is one tough hombre.

As governor of Texas, George Bush sanctioned the execution of 150 people without turning a hair. In fact, he even managed to mock Karla Faye Tucker as he sent her to meet her Maker.

As President of the United States, George Walker Bush has no problem with water boarding, a form of torture the Army used to forbid. He has no problem with denying American citizens of their rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.

The Fourth Amendment states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized.”
The Fifth Amendment states: “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.


Those are rights Americans have defended from Lexington and Concord, through to the ascendancy of George Walker Bush. They formed the fabric of what it meant to be an American. They are not to be suspended lightly, but only in extremis when there is no other way.


George Walker Bush did not shrink from that terrible decision. He replaced all that we stand for with warrantless wiretaps, special renditions to secret foreign prisons and with Star Chamber proceedings which are more Franz Kafka than Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.


It is hard to believe that this is the same George Walker Bush who lied to the American people about a DWI conviction so he would not have to be straight with his teen age daughters.


Now George Walker Bush has determined that a 30 month sentence for lying to a Grand Jury is excessive. Mr. Bush has not commuted the sentence of Victor Rita, who has an even stronger record of service to his country than has I Lewis Libby, was also convicted of perjury, and was sentenced to 33 months in jail. Clearly Mr. Rita has no birdlike qualities. He will not sign like a canary if put into a cage.


While in most people conscience exacts a price, in George Walker Bush it is merely a way of avoiding the consequences of one’s acts.

Tom Gordon
Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net

The Job of Government

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge. A prudent government sees danger and takes action. And in taking a look back at the seige of Ruby Ridge and the Branch Davidian compound, please take the first two "planks" of thought offered, to work your brain on these two different levels.

Because while it may appear FUBAR in how Ruby Ridge and the Mt. Carmel siege played out, there must be a general recognition that government retains C2 over these distinct situations. When the ordinary citizen sees danger the best course of action is to move out of the way. But the government bears the onus of confrontation for the greater good of society. Many times threats play out quickly and in such clean manner that we hardly give these things a thought. Dallas vice squad cuffing a few gang members on the week-end is just a ping on the news radar for most of us, but removing violent elements of society makes my shopping trip to the mall at night a bit safer. Government bears the greater accountability to tackle danger. They also fall under greater criticism when things get messy.

Randy Weaver is the name which we attach to Ruby Ridge. He was under surveillance for failure to appear in court after the illegal sale of two sawed-off shot guns. After Deputy U.S. Marshall William Degan was shot and killed on the Weaver property in Idaho, the F.B.I. came into play. How many remember Mr. Horiuchi and his role in this siege? He is the West Point graduate and F.B.I. marksman who shot and killed the wife of Randy Weaver, bringing the stand-off to a close after eleven days.

When the stand-off ended, Lon Horiuchi was charged with involuntary manslaughter in an Idaho state court. A federal appeals court judge later ruled that he was immune from prosecution because of a clause in the Constitution which grants immunity to federal agents who are performing within the scope of their assigned duties. Mr. Horiuchi maintained that the intended target was Kevin Harris, who was running toward the cabin door where Mrs. Weaver was in a crouched position. Snipers are indeed trained to kill. That is a fact. The other fact of note is that in 1995 the government paid Randy Weaver 3.1 million dollars as compensation for the death of his wife.

The siege of the Branch Davidian compound at Mt. Carmel, Texas tore at the soul of our nation. Four ATF agents lost their lives on February 28, 1993 when attempting to execute a search warrant of the premises. It was hard to watch the daily grind of news as the stand-off continued until day fifty-one. When the Branch Davidians set their compound ablaze it was unbearable for most of us to stomach. Worse was to come. Twenty-one children lost their lives that day. And the legal smoke from that situation took months to clear from the nostrils of some who were involved.

But has our government shown a consistent pattern of abuses of citizen rights or do Ruby Ridge and Waco merely present the greater truth? Government must intervene at times, and in violent manner, when there is perceived threat to the surrounding population. We can't always agree with the manner in which the outcome was achieved, but I prefer the outcome at the Branch Davidian Compound to what could have happened if David Koresh and his followers had decided to take their arsenal into the peaceful streets of nearby Waco. I prefer that if a U.S. Marshall in Idaho or a police officer in Irving, Texas (Aubrey Hawkins) is killed that the government take action to remove the threat.

As technology advances our government retains greater and more innovative means to control the population or power down violent public demonstration. While Active Denial Systems are being honed for the battle space they are not being used against our civilian population. The Posse Comitatus Act provides a safeguard against the use of our military for operational law enforcement on U.S. soil. Historically, our government has performed judiciously and prudently with the use of lethal force when there is a perception of danger to the welfare of the general population. They will continue to do so.

Lal Masjid in Pakistan will most likely experience an assault by military forces to breach a perimeter which has been a source of danger to the surrounding population for quite some time. The neglect of the Musharraf administration to deal with kidnappings, vandalism, extortion and threats in the neighborhood surrounding the mosque has allowed a situation to fester for too long. Nineteen people lost their lives in a clash between mosque radicals and the police last week. It is time for the boil to be lanced. The symbolic and physical control of this property must be taken from the remaining leadership which has stirred up much trouble for Islamabad.

Strategically, C2 now belongs within the hands of the Pakistani military. But a FUBAR situation may be on the horizon. The mosque compound retains women and children. Some are likely human shields. Others in the compound may be wearing a suicide vest with delusional belief that Paradise awaits them. But the danger to the general population must be removed. That is the job of government.

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Glossary of Terms

We will hit the ground running and move fast in the next blog. As such, the following terms need to be recognizable for blog readership:

Active Denial Systems: Harnessed or directed energy (millimeter wave technology) used within electromagnetic-based weapons systems for use of non-lethal force. Cross reference with "Raytheon" to read up on this a bit.

C2 is a military term which meants command and control.

FUBAR is a military acronym which quickly disseminates a quick-jolt thought that a situation has spun out of control.

Posse Comitatus Act provides a legal limitation on use of our military for operational law enforcement on U.S. soil.

The next blog will take a look back at Ruby Ridge and the Branch Davidian compound. Looking to the present, a tie in will be made to what is currently in play at Lal Masjid in Pakistan.

What do you believe are the constraints or responsibilities of government when a small, restive, and possibly threatening minority exists as a microcosm of a greater community structure?

Tammy

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda

Do you read poetry? It gives small glimpses into how others view life, the human condition, or even subtle hints of political persuasion. But when it comes to the poetry of Pablo Neruda, a writer, poet and diplomat from Chile, his poetry flowed with love for women. Some of his works move toward eroticism. But my favorite, is a poem titled "Your Laughter".

It is the weekend! Time for a bit of joy. And if you have a favorite poet, feel free to post a comment and let us know your own preference and which piece of poetry is enjoyable to read.

"Your Laughter" by Pablo Neruda.



Tammy

When Religion Arms Instead of Educates

So much for the glory days of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) mini-Caliphate in Islamabad. Top gun Maulana Abdul Aziz' political aspirations fell with a resounding thud yesterday as he attempted to escape under the skirts of a woman. After threatening for months that he would release suicide bombers into the streets of the city, the Pakistani military finally dressed up and showed up on the stage of legal force. Caught wearing a burkah, the skinny backbone of one of the "fearless leaders" is finally exposed. The man was a cross dresser in his attempt to avoid detection. He is also a fraud. The classic sentence "I wanted to be a martyr, but my feet wouldn't let me" applies to this man. Sending others to certain death when you are unwilling to do it yourself is not the mark of a true leader. Courage leads from the front and by example.

But even more surreal, as the clash between the legitimate government and psuedo-government of Imam Aziz unfolded, were pictures of dozens of women in burkah's brandishing large bamboo poles to defend the honor of their cause. Shouldn't these women be cooking dinner? Don't they need a date night if they are single? Can they convert a fraction, recognize bacteria under a microscope or titrate chemical solutions in the lab? What do they understand about the world beyond the walls of the compound where they live and receive daily indoctrination? When religion arms instead of educates, we need to shudder.

Several years ago I was introduced to the writings of Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor of nuclear physics from Islamabad. He sent me article number 18 in this link: "The Menace of Education". It was an eye-opener. His recent article: "Pakistan: The Threat from Within" of May 2007 is most timely in light of the events at Lal Masjid. The educational system in Pakistan must break out of the madrassa mold and find its moorings in literature, math and sciences, not the teachings of religious extremists. And the religious-based schools must strive to educate the minds and teach good citizenship in the process. Lal Masjid has failed on all counts.

Dr. Hoodbhoy is a prolific writer and a popular speaker at universities in the U.S. He is passionate about education. When you have the time, scroll through his listed articles and read a few. Pakistan has made small steps forward with their educational system. But the situation at the Red Mosque is reflective of the continued need for across the board change in the educational system in Pakistan. And there is a continued need to power down the religious extremists leading schools which preach a raised fist against the government.

Tammy Swofford


tammyswofford@yahoo.com

The Heroin Factor

James McEachin has the uncanny gift of unfolding a tale which is both readable and memorable. His novel, “The Heroin Factor” is not something which puts you on the edge of your seat as a spectator. It is more subtle. It gradually includes you in the plot. Because in the world of “The Heroin Factor”, at least one face or characterization, one action or thought, will hit square in the gut. Emotional and explosive on a psychological level, you will leave either knowing more about yourself or someone very near to you.

Beginning with a look forward in the first chapter we are introduced to a black police officer with a missing testicle. We learn an innovative way to take revenge on a surly bartender with a hook for a hand and experience a co-mingling hate for a corrupted police officer’s wife. And the nun in a wheelchair waving a Bible on the sidewalk? Even this woman maintains her own little secret.

Entering the world of drug use and mental illness Mr. McEachin moves from toad licking to uncut heroin, from desire to enslavement, from passion to depression. The sub-theme of underlying passion for the black American citizen to progress educationally and climb the social ladder cannot be ignored. If for no other reason, the book should be read for what is presented on pages 80-81. Who deserves a special nod from the Almighty? The author’s fairness and clarity of thought astounded me. Truth is always served up with a bit of grit and Mr. McEachin does not wince when the serving spoon of truth is ladled onto the plate of conscience regarding his own heritage and roots.

Having worked psychiatric nursing, the view into mental illness is very accurate. As a nurse, having cared for a man who ran down the hallway screaming that arms were reaching from the walls to grab him, the understanding of psychosis is clearly grasped on the page. Wondering whether “black-eyed peas ever sleep” and “if ears of corn can really hear?” may sound funny to the sane, but these thoughts are perplexing to the mentally ill and they do exist within a plane of thought which we do not understand. The author also understands the intense loyalties which can exist among people within either the ranks of the mentally ill or those with drug addictions. With a survivalist instinct, such people hang tightly to the life raft extended by their co-survivalist. They don't rat each other out and they are the most forgiving of all human beings.

In a sense “The Heroin Factor” is a dark tale. Drug addiction and mental illness take a back seat to a darker secret as the book comes to a close. And as in real life where solutions are not always easy to find, neither is it easy for the characters in this book to find their way out of the labyrinth of madness or desire. This is the lesson we must understand. Most of us have family members who have struggled with some of the same demons of destruction as those showcased in this work. And for myself, the book provided a reflecting pond. I have assured James, that the day will come when we will discuss some of these issues in person. smile

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Independence Day

According to the U.S. POPClock there are 302,249,363 people within the geographic boundaries of America today. As we go into our 4th of July holiday I want to remind us of a few things.

87.5 percent of Americans live above the poverty line. There is a one percent "Capitalist class" with incomes of $350,000 a year, or greater. But there is also a solid 15 percent upper middle class with college degrees, and an additional 30 percent lower middle class with some college education, which lives quite well. Forty-six percent of Americans are blessed with physical comforts not known to many folks in the world. According to the U.N. Human Development Index, the U.S. is ranked #8 for standard of living. Ninety-nine percent of us are literate, being able to both read and write according to the C.I.A. fact book.

I saw a picture of President Bush in the news the other day. He looked physically tired. Somewhat cloistered within the walls of the White House lately, he must have weary hands. His hands have held the concerns of our nation for many years now. I think of our military and the sacrifices the families have made on behalf of our nation. Their hands are weary too. Some of our troops find themselves in second and third deployment status. They do not count off their orders by numerical days anymore. They count it off by missed events. It is another missed birthday of a child, a missed ballet performance, or as one officer wrote me while in Kuwait, he even missed taking his child to dental appointments.

Many steady hands have held the concerns of our nation since 9/11. But my heart is with those who have weary hands and faithful hands, this Independence Day holiday. My thoughts are with American troops stationed all over the world: land-based, air side or as part of our maritime presence providing global support to the strategic needs and safety of our nation.

So as we fire up our barbecue pits, slice into our watermelons and celebrate freedom we need to take a moment and reflect: For these Thy blessings, we give Thee thanks.

Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Tweedlemad and Tweedlemadder

Two of the most powerful men in Washington are also the most secretive. Vice President Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia shun public scrutiny the same way vampires avoid sunlight.

Cheney is prepared to defy the U.S. government, of which he is a member albeit in an undetermined way, to keep people from finding out what he has been doing for the last six and half years. Scalia usually refuses to speak at events if reporters are present. The reasons for their shyness has been revealed—by a four part expose in the Washington Post in Cheney’s case and by the Toronto Globe and Mail in Scalia’s case.

Basically, the reason these two titans avoid the spotlight is that they are as mad as a pair of March hares. In Cheney’s case, madness manifests itself in dead certainty that Richard Bruce Cheney is the only person who understands how this country should be run. Because of that, nothing can be allowed to stand in his way. Not the environment, not the Constitution, not the Congress. Nothing. Cheney is prepared to destroy, through torture in the case of perceived enemies of the country, and by forcing them out of the government in the case of people who dare to disagree with him.

Cheney's defense on the charges that he has not obeyed Executive Order 12958 dealing with the preservation of sensitive material is that he obeyed all but one small part of the Order. Would any sane person go into court and argue that he had obeyed all of the Highway Code, except that one little bit that deals with obeying posted speed limits?

Scalia is just plain dotty, unable to differentiate between the real world and the world of Jack Bauer, the protagonist in the Fox show “24”. At a judicial conference in Canada where he could not control the media, Scalia explained his position on extra-legal activities by federal agents in these terms: “Say that criminal law is against him? ‘You have the right to a jury trial?’ Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don’t think so. So the question is really whether we believe in these absolutes. And ought to believe in these absolutes.”

As soon as they could winch their jaws into the proper position, the other judges on the panel laid into Scalia like a high brow WWF tag team on legal doctrine.
Canadian Judge Mosley said that rights-respecting governments can’t take part in torture or encourage it in any way. “The agents of the state and the agents of the Canadian state under the Criminal Code are very much subject to severe criminal sanction if they would engage in torture,” Judge Mosley told Scalia.
Scalia said it would be folly for laws to dictate that counterterrorism agents must wear kid gloves all the time.
Lord Carlile of Berriew asked “what if the guy is not the guy who is going to blow up Los Angeles, but some kind of innocent?” He pointed out that torture can lead to false confessions and asked “How do you protect that person’s civil rights from the risk of very serious wrongful conviction."
A Canadian jurist wanted to know how many people can be tortured to save Los Angeles. Another wanted to know “How much certainty do we get to have that we have the right person?”
Scalia claimed, “ I don’t want to bypass the Constitution, but these are extraordinary circumstances.” Unfortunately for the Justice, they are not all that extraordinary. In 1812, British troops burned Washington, DC and nobody suggested that we abandon the Constitution. After First Bull Run, the Confederates had a straight shot into Washington and no one suggested that we scrap the Constitution. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated by what might have been a Soviet agent. There was a real worry that worse could be coming, and nobody suggested tearing up the Constitution.

On the other hand,on JUne 2, 1919, anarchists set off eight bombs at the same time in Washington, DC, and seven other cities, and the then attorney general acted the same way Cheney has. Thousands were arrested, held without charge, without access to family or legal counsel. Thanks to the work of Clarence Darrow, Harlan Fiske Stone and Felix Frankfurter, the infamous Palmer raids were ended, those imprisoned were released, albeit, with no explanation of why they had been arrested in the first place. Sound familiar?

It is truly alarming that a guardian of our core document thinks real life solutions can be found in 46 minute weekly installments.

Tom Gordon

Tsg0008@sbcglobal.net