My wife and I have been married for 22 years this weekend.
I'm tempted to say that it seems like only yesterday that we met and began dating, but that's not true at all.
The truth is that I don't really remember what it's like to not feel totally as one with this magnificent woman.
What was it like to be alone? I can recall the times, the dates and the places, but it's like recalling an old episode of Hogan's Heroes. I remember the details, but it's not like it was really me.
Trying to explain her worth and importance is an exercise in understatement. Nothing I can say or write will do justice to her value. It's like saying "I really love my lungs. I couldn't do without them."
Actually, it's more like saying this:
Rebecca,
You stole my heart.
You are my life.
Without you I am nothing.
Yours forever,
Ben
From the Steve Martin movie The Jerk:
Navin: Marie, are you awake? (Marie is sleeping).........
I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days.
The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days and the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days and the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days.
And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half.
I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it.
Anyway, I've decided that tomorrow, when the time is right, I'm going to ask you to marry me, if that's o.k. with you.
Just don't say anything.
You've made me very happy.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Big is Bad
You've heard the saying "Bigger is Better."
Baloney!
Bigger is Badder. Worser. Horribler. Yuckier.
My doctor sent me to the hospital for a procedure and when I called to confirm the appointment the receptionist suggested that I arrive at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
At first I figured that this was Standard Medical Operating Procedure -- ask you to arrive 30 minutes early so the doctor can make you wait an hour.
But no! The receptionist was trying to tell me that I would need 30 extra minutes just to get from the parking lot to their office.
The hospital had a sign on it that said "Inova Fairfax Hospital."
What it should have said was "Incredible Giganormous BigAsTexas Hospital."
Once I turned off the highway into the hospital's driveway I was a good 1/2 mile away from my parking lot.
Once into the labrynthine structure and parked, I hiked for 15 minutes around construction crews and debris (they're building several additional structures because goodness knows you can't have too big a hospital nowadays) until I reached the side door.
Imagine that the the office I need to get to was New York City. My car was in Juneau and the side door was Seattle.
At this point, I had already used up 15 minutes of my 30 minute cushion, but I figured that I was inside, so how far could it be?
I asked the first scrub-clad medical looking person I saw for directions to the radiation lab and was told "take the green elevators to the second floor and radiation is right there."
No problem. I happily walked away until I realized that I didn't see ANY elevators - green, blue or otherwise.
So I stopped the next official looking person and asked for directions to the green elevators. I was directed through several sets of doors, down a hallway and around a corner to an information desk.
Time was now getting short.
When I arrived at the information desk. I saw three large stacks of paper. A green stack, a yellow stack and a blue stack. I was drawn by some mystical force to pick up a green sheet of paper and this is what it said:
Directions from Inova Heart and Vascular Institute to Green Elevators:
Turn Right at the patient/information desk.
Go past the coffee cart
Go past the gift shop
proceed therough the double wooden doors
proceed through the automatic door marked "Inova Fairfax Hospital Surgery Center
proceed into lobby.
Turn left after the first wooden desk
proceed through the double glass doors.
Make an immediate right turn.
Proceed almost to the end of the hallway.
Just before the wooden doors, turn left.
Pass the elevators on the left
Turn Right
Continue approximately 50 feet
Turn left at the first hallway on the left
Proceed to the end of the hallway.
The Green Elevators are on the left.
I was 20 minutes late for my appointment.
Baloney!
Bigger is Badder. Worser. Horribler. Yuckier.
My doctor sent me to the hospital for a procedure and when I called to confirm the appointment the receptionist suggested that I arrive at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
At first I figured that this was Standard Medical Operating Procedure -- ask you to arrive 30 minutes early so the doctor can make you wait an hour.
But no! The receptionist was trying to tell me that I would need 30 extra minutes just to get from the parking lot to their office.
The hospital had a sign on it that said "Inova Fairfax Hospital."
What it should have said was "Incredible Giganormous BigAsTexas Hospital."
Once I turned off the highway into the hospital's driveway I was a good 1/2 mile away from my parking lot.
Once into the labrynthine structure and parked, I hiked for 15 minutes around construction crews and debris (they're building several additional structures because goodness knows you can't have too big a hospital nowadays) until I reached the side door.
Imagine that the the office I need to get to was New York City. My car was in Juneau and the side door was Seattle.
At this point, I had already used up 15 minutes of my 30 minute cushion, but I figured that I was inside, so how far could it be?
I asked the first scrub-clad medical looking person I saw for directions to the radiation lab and was told "take the green elevators to the second floor and radiation is right there."
No problem. I happily walked away until I realized that I didn't see ANY elevators - green, blue or otherwise.
So I stopped the next official looking person and asked for directions to the green elevators. I was directed through several sets of doors, down a hallway and around a corner to an information desk.
Time was now getting short.
When I arrived at the information desk. I saw three large stacks of paper. A green stack, a yellow stack and a blue stack. I was drawn by some mystical force to pick up a green sheet of paper and this is what it said:
Directions from Inova Heart and Vascular Institute to Green Elevators:
Turn Right at the patient/information desk.
Go past the coffee cart
Go past the gift shop
proceed therough the double wooden doors
proceed through the automatic door marked "Inova Fairfax Hospital Surgery Center
proceed into lobby.
Turn left after the first wooden desk
proceed through the double glass doors.
Make an immediate right turn.
Proceed almost to the end of the hallway.
Just before the wooden doors, turn left.
Pass the elevators on the left
Turn Right
Continue approximately 50 feet
Turn left at the first hallway on the left
Proceed to the end of the hallway.
The Green Elevators are on the left.
I was 20 minutes late for my appointment.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Alchemy
The history of modern science is rooted in the work of the alchemists. Scientist-Philosophers throughout the pre-modern era in all regions of the world sought to change the base into the precious. The plentiful into the rare. The common into the sublime.
In pursuit of this goal, science proceeded from microscopic to molecular, to atomic, and finally subatomic matter. The benefits to humanity in pharmacology, genetics, science, communications, agriculture, and physics dwarf any metallurgical gains that would have accrued from the accomplishment of the alchemist's original aims.
Yet we have now (and have always possessed) the means to achieve true alchemy. We can, using our particularly human ability to reason and think, change one type of matter into another.
This is not a physical transformation per se, but rather the ability to substitute the manufacture of one type of matter for another.
Take, for example, the manufacture of oil in New Hampshire by the John Deere Company of Iowa.
Everyone knows that neither New Hampshire nor Iowa has any indigineous petroleum production or refinery capacity. How then does the John Deere factory in Iowa produce petroleum in New Hampshire.
As new roads are built in northern New Hampshire, the Earth Movers made by Deere in Iowa flatten hilltops and burrow through mountains to level the new roadbeds. Over its 50 years life,tens of millions of automobile miles will be spent traversing these highways. The flatter the road, the fewer gallons of gasoline will be consumed by the automobiles (and too, fewer brake pads consumed and transmission parts worn).
Our modern alchemist can create an oil savings of millions of barrels of oils by substituting John Deere earth moving equipment.
While this process is not limited to the alchemic process of producing petroleum products, that particular item is reputed to be in such short supply and hails from such a contentious part of the globe, that it is worthy of some focus.
The subsidization of fixed rail mass transit is almost universally unpopular from a fiscal point of view, but from an energy policy standpoint, it seems quite wise. Automobiles burn refined petroleum products; most light rail systems utilize coal generated electricity. In essence this is the cheap way to convert coal to gas.
How about bio-diesel? Even at the current cost of diesel hovering around $2.35 per gallon, bio-diesel is plagued by distribution and refining difficulties that keep it from being a widespread alternative for the trucking industry in America (the largest consumer of diesel fuel).
The modern alchemist, however, would note that the next largest consumer of transportation diesel is the agricultural community. Perhaps the farmers of midwest could cooperatively refine a fixed portion of their Oilseed crop in exchange for bio-diesel for their combines, reapers, tractors, trucks and heating and drying equipment.
This type of alchemy is currently being done in the coal fields of West Virginia. Coal operators are committing a coal from their mines in 20-year fixed price contracts to a refiner who is committing to provide back refined truck diesel at equivalently fixed prices. The coal miners are alchemists creating Middle East Oil from their own coal.
The examples are endless, we need only use the one unlimited resource that we possess on earth -- the power of our minds.
In pursuit of this goal, science proceeded from microscopic to molecular, to atomic, and finally subatomic matter. The benefits to humanity in pharmacology, genetics, science, communications, agriculture, and physics dwarf any metallurgical gains that would have accrued from the accomplishment of the alchemist's original aims.
Yet we have now (and have always possessed) the means to achieve true alchemy. We can, using our particularly human ability to reason and think, change one type of matter into another.
This is not a physical transformation per se, but rather the ability to substitute the manufacture of one type of matter for another.
Take, for example, the manufacture of oil in New Hampshire by the John Deere Company of Iowa.
Everyone knows that neither New Hampshire nor Iowa has any indigineous petroleum production or refinery capacity. How then does the John Deere factory in Iowa produce petroleum in New Hampshire.
As new roads are built in northern New Hampshire, the Earth Movers made by Deere in Iowa flatten hilltops and burrow through mountains to level the new roadbeds. Over its 50 years life,tens of millions of automobile miles will be spent traversing these highways. The flatter the road, the fewer gallons of gasoline will be consumed by the automobiles (and too, fewer brake pads consumed and transmission parts worn).
Our modern alchemist can create an oil savings of millions of barrels of oils by substituting John Deere earth moving equipment.
While this process is not limited to the alchemic process of producing petroleum products, that particular item is reputed to be in such short supply and hails from such a contentious part of the globe, that it is worthy of some focus.
The subsidization of fixed rail mass transit is almost universally unpopular from a fiscal point of view, but from an energy policy standpoint, it seems quite wise. Automobiles burn refined petroleum products; most light rail systems utilize coal generated electricity. In essence this is the cheap way to convert coal to gas.
How about bio-diesel? Even at the current cost of diesel hovering around $2.35 per gallon, bio-diesel is plagued by distribution and refining difficulties that keep it from being a widespread alternative for the trucking industry in America (the largest consumer of diesel fuel).
The modern alchemist, however, would note that the next largest consumer of transportation diesel is the agricultural community. Perhaps the farmers of midwest could cooperatively refine a fixed portion of their Oilseed crop in exchange for bio-diesel for their combines, reapers, tractors, trucks and heating and drying equipment.
This type of alchemy is currently being done in the coal fields of West Virginia. Coal operators are committing a coal from their mines in 20-year fixed price contracts to a refiner who is committing to provide back refined truck diesel at equivalently fixed prices. The coal miners are alchemists creating Middle East Oil from their own coal.
The examples are endless, we need only use the one unlimited resource that we possess on earth -- the power of our minds.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Till Death Do Us Part
In my article "Put This Guy In Jail" I argue that Mark Felt violated his oath of secrecty and confidentiality when he leaked important information to the Washington Post.
Several respondents have posed the "Hitler Test." What if Felt was an officer of the SS during the Third Reich and was leaking information to the Allies about the abuses going on in the Death Camps?
The answer is simple and intuitive.
If the violation of your oath will save an innocent human life then it is justified. The converse is also true. Loyalty to an oath is never a justification for the taking of an innocent human life.
Nixon was not Hitler and Watergate was not Auschwitz. Felt could have gone to the Democrat controlled Congress. They would happily have heard his story and acted to preserve the interests of the citizenry.
No, Felt wanted it both ways. He wanted revenge on Nixon and he wanted to maintain his good guy image and high position at the FBI.
The foundation of justice is the adherence to principle and the rule of law. Felt abrogated both.
Several respondents have posed the "Hitler Test." What if Felt was an officer of the SS during the Third Reich and was leaking information to the Allies about the abuses going on in the Death Camps?
The answer is simple and intuitive.
If the violation of your oath will save an innocent human life then it is justified. The converse is also true. Loyalty to an oath is never a justification for the taking of an innocent human life.
Nixon was not Hitler and Watergate was not Auschwitz. Felt could have gone to the Democrat controlled Congress. They would happily have heard his story and acted to preserve the interests of the citizenry.
No, Felt wanted it both ways. He wanted revenge on Nixon and he wanted to maintain his good guy image and high position at the FBI.
The foundation of justice is the adherence to principle and the rule of law. Felt abrogated both.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Public Relations Matter
I had lunch today in Vienna with some very astute European businessmen.
Astute businessmen who were dead wrong in everything that they thought about what was going on in the US!
How could they be both astute and so deadly wrong on every count?
Simple, they read everything available to them in the public press. They watch the BBC and CNN. They listen to the speeches and the commentators, devour the editorials and follow the issues closely. That's astute.
I remember as a undergraduate learning TECO on a DEC-10 in the 70's, my instructor was always quoting the programmer's mantra: "Crap in - Crap Out."
That's why these "astute" businessmen got everything so wrong.
According to the European story, everything in the US under George Bush is going to Hell in a handbasket.
Europe, on the other hand, is ascendant!
According to the media here in Europe:
The US budget deficit is out of control.
The dollar can no longer stand up as the world's reserve currency.
Iraq will never end and America is being sucked into another Vietnam.
Crime is rampant.
People are out of work as all of our jobs are exported to China.
The economy is spiraling downward.
A Democrat/Republican civil war is imminent.
No wonder the dollar is oversold! Who would invest in a country like this?
The only problem, of course, is that none of this is true.
The US budget deficit is large, but shrinking.
The Iraq War is tragic and costly, but we are also winning it and the establishment of a westernizing democracy in Iraq has already wrought positive changes in the Middle East.
All classes of serious and violent crime are in decline in America.
Unemployment in the US is half the rate experienced in the Euro zone and dropping.
US economic growth is the highest in the industrial world with the exception of Switzerland and Sweden. By contrast, Eurozone growth is practically non-existant.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are fighting like cats and dogs. But for goodness sakes, isn't that what we pay them to do? But the fight is all for show. Most Americans couldn't name their own Congressman on a bet. Nor could they name the respective national party chairmen.
Most Americans are working too hard during the day and playing too hard at night to care about what is going on in Congress.
No, the fact is, the only battle we are losing is the public relations battle in Europe and Asia. We need to do a better job of managing our public image overseas.
The lesson of the 1960 Presidential election is still instructive today. John F. Kennedy smiled and won the hearts of the television audience. Richard Nixon scowled and lost the election.
In more recent times, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan smiled alot and told the world pithy stories. They were loved. George W. and Jimmy Carter were stern and school-marmish and the world believed that the US was doomed.
So, America, be like Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie and "Put On A Happy Face."
The world will love you for it.
Astute businessmen who were dead wrong in everything that they thought about what was going on in the US!
How could they be both astute and so deadly wrong on every count?
Simple, they read everything available to them in the public press. They watch the BBC and CNN. They listen to the speeches and the commentators, devour the editorials and follow the issues closely. That's astute.
I remember as a undergraduate learning TECO on a DEC-10 in the 70's, my instructor was always quoting the programmer's mantra: "Crap in - Crap Out."
That's why these "astute" businessmen got everything so wrong.
According to the European story, everything in the US under George Bush is going to Hell in a handbasket.
Europe, on the other hand, is ascendant!
According to the media here in Europe:
The US budget deficit is out of control.
The dollar can no longer stand up as the world's reserve currency.
Iraq will never end and America is being sucked into another Vietnam.
Crime is rampant.
People are out of work as all of our jobs are exported to China.
The economy is spiraling downward.
A Democrat/Republican civil war is imminent.
No wonder the dollar is oversold! Who would invest in a country like this?
The only problem, of course, is that none of this is true.
The US budget deficit is large, but shrinking.
The Iraq War is tragic and costly, but we are also winning it and the establishment of a westernizing democracy in Iraq has already wrought positive changes in the Middle East.
All classes of serious and violent crime are in decline in America.
Unemployment in the US is half the rate experienced in the Euro zone and dropping.
US economic growth is the highest in the industrial world with the exception of Switzerland and Sweden. By contrast, Eurozone growth is practically non-existant.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are fighting like cats and dogs. But for goodness sakes, isn't that what we pay them to do? But the fight is all for show. Most Americans couldn't name their own Congressman on a bet. Nor could they name the respective national party chairmen.
Most Americans are working too hard during the day and playing too hard at night to care about what is going on in Congress.
No, the fact is, the only battle we are losing is the public relations battle in Europe and Asia. We need to do a better job of managing our public image overseas.
The lesson of the 1960 Presidential election is still instructive today. John F. Kennedy smiled and won the hearts of the television audience. Richard Nixon scowled and lost the election.
In more recent times, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan smiled alot and told the world pithy stories. They were loved. George W. and Jimmy Carter were stern and school-marmish and the world believed that the US was doomed.
So, America, be like Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie and "Put On A Happy Face."
The world will love you for it.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Immigration Is The Solution Not The Problem
I am somewhat frustrated to continue to have to read daily the angry rhetoric of the world's nationalists.
Voters in France who reject the EU Constitution (right move) because of the fear of immigrants (wrong move); or the American trade unions who fight immigration at every turn for fear that one of their members might have to compete on the open market for their job.
My favorite is the Sierra Club, which opposes immigration because it's bad for the environment. WHAT? You mean that an immigrant from, let's say, London is going to harm the environment here, but not in the UK?
Without too much trouble, I think one can make the case for open borders and virtually unlimited immigration. I also think that whatever problems are being cited as being caused by immigration, one can make a counter argument that immigration is the cure not the cause of these problems.
Take economic growth and personal income. Far from having a negative effect on personal income, open borders would be a great boon to the American economy.
Cargill, ADM, Microsoft, Coke, Proctor & Gamble, GM, Chrysler and McDonalds all spend tens of millions of dollars each year to try to get more Chinese to buy their products. Do you want 10 million more Chinese to buy your product? That's easy. Let them live here. They won't buy anything else.
Let's just say you let 10 million Chinese immigrants come here tomorrow (believe me there would be at least 10 times that number wanting to come). What would be the first thing that would happen?
Well, the government would collect about $350 million in immigration taxes immediately. US carriers (American, United, Northwest) would make about $10 billion in airfare. American telcos would make about $15 million in calls home from the immigrants wanting to say "Hi Mom. I got here safely." American grocers would sell another 20 million eggs the first day as all these immigrants got hungry for breakfast.
You get the picture. Lots and lots of new economic activity. Housing, transportation, clothing, domestic communications would all be in demand as 10 million new residents set up shop.
10 million seems like a whole lot of people to absorb, but look at what Israel did in the last couple of decades. The country absorbed over 1 million Russians and Ethiopians. A comparable number for this country would be 20 million people coming to live in California.
During the 1990's the Israeli economy grew at an average rate of 6%. Almost all of that growth is attributed to the influx of immigrants.
Sure there are costs. Sure there are dislocations. Sure it's uncomfortable. Those people don't look like us; they don't speak like us; they don't laugh at our jokes and they smell funny too.
Just like my grandparents when they got here. They spoke funny, ate funny, smelled funny and made the neighbors just a little bit uncomfortable.
But they raised good kids who were proud to be Americans; served in the Army, Air Force, Marines and went to college and paid taxes as they raised families and pursued the American dream.
Here's my test to the naysayers. Name one signer of the Declaration of Independence that didn't come from an immigrant family and I will concede this argument.
Just one!
Really, you don't have an answer?
I didn't think so.
Open the Doors. Let 'em in.
Voters in France who reject the EU Constitution (right move) because of the fear of immigrants (wrong move); or the American trade unions who fight immigration at every turn for fear that one of their members might have to compete on the open market for their job.
My favorite is the Sierra Club, which opposes immigration because it's bad for the environment. WHAT? You mean that an immigrant from, let's say, London is going to harm the environment here, but not in the UK?
Without too much trouble, I think one can make the case for open borders and virtually unlimited immigration. I also think that whatever problems are being cited as being caused by immigration, one can make a counter argument that immigration is the cure not the cause of these problems.
Take economic growth and personal income. Far from having a negative effect on personal income, open borders would be a great boon to the American economy.
Cargill, ADM, Microsoft, Coke, Proctor & Gamble, GM, Chrysler and McDonalds all spend tens of millions of dollars each year to try to get more Chinese to buy their products. Do you want 10 million more Chinese to buy your product? That's easy. Let them live here. They won't buy anything else.
Let's just say you let 10 million Chinese immigrants come here tomorrow (believe me there would be at least 10 times that number wanting to come). What would be the first thing that would happen?
Well, the government would collect about $350 million in immigration taxes immediately. US carriers (American, United, Northwest) would make about $10 billion in airfare. American telcos would make about $15 million in calls home from the immigrants wanting to say "Hi Mom. I got here safely." American grocers would sell another 20 million eggs the first day as all these immigrants got hungry for breakfast.
You get the picture. Lots and lots of new economic activity. Housing, transportation, clothing, domestic communications would all be in demand as 10 million new residents set up shop.
10 million seems like a whole lot of people to absorb, but look at what Israel did in the last couple of decades. The country absorbed over 1 million Russians and Ethiopians. A comparable number for this country would be 20 million people coming to live in California.
During the 1990's the Israeli economy grew at an average rate of 6%. Almost all of that growth is attributed to the influx of immigrants.
Sure there are costs. Sure there are dislocations. Sure it's uncomfortable. Those people don't look like us; they don't speak like us; they don't laugh at our jokes and they smell funny too.
Just like my grandparents when they got here. They spoke funny, ate funny, smelled funny and made the neighbors just a little bit uncomfortable.
But they raised good kids who were proud to be Americans; served in the Army, Air Force, Marines and went to college and paid taxes as they raised families and pursued the American dream.
Here's my test to the naysayers. Name one signer of the Declaration of Independence that didn't come from an immigrant family and I will concede this argument.
Just one!
Really, you don't have an answer?
I didn't think so.
Open the Doors. Let 'em in.
Statisticians Are The Real Problem!
I am in Vienna this week in meetings with some business associates from around the world. My hosts own hotels here in Austria, in Cyprus, Turkey and Greece. My other friends live in Tel Aviv, but have businesses in Greece, Italy and Poland as well as in Poland.
Tonight as dinner concluded we were speaking about the difference between cultures in the Mediterranean, Europe and America. On the subject of alcohol, my Greek friend Manolis was shocked to learn that Americans are not allowed to drink until the age of 21. His cousin, who was raised in the States, said "yes - 21 to drink and 16 to drive." This comment was met with much amusement by all. In most of the world, underage drinking is not a problem - it is part of dinner.
I told them that in the States we have a real problem with drinking and driving. I quoted the statistic that 40% of all traffic accidents with fatalities in the US involve a driver that is under the age of 23 - and that half of those accidents also involve alcohol.
My Israeli friend Richard said "I wonder why we don't have the same problem with underage drinking and driving in Israel and Greece."
With sage wisdom, Manolis deadpanned "We don't have as many statisticians."
Tonight as dinner concluded we were speaking about the difference between cultures in the Mediterranean, Europe and America. On the subject of alcohol, my Greek friend Manolis was shocked to learn that Americans are not allowed to drink until the age of 21. His cousin, who was raised in the States, said "yes - 21 to drink and 16 to drive." This comment was met with much amusement by all. In most of the world, underage drinking is not a problem - it is part of dinner.
I told them that in the States we have a real problem with drinking and driving. I quoted the statistic that 40% of all traffic accidents with fatalities in the US involve a driver that is under the age of 23 - and that half of those accidents also involve alcohol.
My Israeli friend Richard said "I wonder why we don't have the same problem with underage drinking and driving in Israel and Greece."
With sage wisdom, Manolis deadpanned "We don't have as many statisticians."
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Put This Guy In Jail
I don't know about you, but all this celebration surrounding the revelation of the true identity of "Deep Throat" really rubs me the wrong way.
Just to make sure I have it right, let's review the facts:
An agent, who is sworn to an oath of secrecy is entrusted with confidential information by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This agent is invested with the police power of the state to investigate and interrogate, to detain and arrest and ultimately to incarcerate wrong-doers - people who have broken the law.
This same agent rises to become Assistant Director of the FBI - the highest domestic intelligence agency in the country - and is thus situated at the crossroads of an even greater current of sensitive and highly confidential information.
At this point, he decides that his oath of confidentiality is not really an oath, the law is not really a law, that top secret really only means "sort of" and that the Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein are ex officio members of the Bureau anyway so why not tell them everything he knows.
Now, 30 years later this man, W. Mark Felt, is being hailed as a hero.
What a bunch of unmitigated, rotgut, unadulterated CRAP!
This guy should be reviled, scorned, excoriated, excommunicated, etcetera, et al, and so on, blah blah blah blah.
He was sworn to uphold the law not adjudicate it. He was sworn to protect secrets not reveal them. He was sworn to collect intelligence, not publish it.
Consider this, what if he had given this information to the Soviets and not to the Washington Post? (author's note: that might be a distinction without a difference) Would Felt not have been guilty of espionage and treason? Why is what he did so different? He knew that our enemies - both foreign and domestic - would read his revelations in the morning paper.
There is probably a good reason why Felt kept silent all of these years. He knew that what he did was illegal and improper. The practice of FBI agents leaking confidential information to the press still goes on regularly.
I have personally spoken to reporters from national press outlets who asked me questions about facts that they could only have known from FBI sources.
This situation must not be allowed to continue. At 91 years of age, Felt is probably beyond the age at which his arrest would be viewed by anyone as a positive step.
On the other hand, perhaps the FBI should revoke his pension and take other steps to ensure that a message is sent to everyone - both inside and outside the agency- that the power of the State which is vested in each Agent and employee, carries with it significant repsonsibility.
Just to make sure I have it right, let's review the facts:
An agent, who is sworn to an oath of secrecy is entrusted with confidential information by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This agent is invested with the police power of the state to investigate and interrogate, to detain and arrest and ultimately to incarcerate wrong-doers - people who have broken the law.
This same agent rises to become Assistant Director of the FBI - the highest domestic intelligence agency in the country - and is thus situated at the crossroads of an even greater current of sensitive and highly confidential information.
At this point, he decides that his oath of confidentiality is not really an oath, the law is not really a law, that top secret really only means "sort of" and that the Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein are ex officio members of the Bureau anyway so why not tell them everything he knows.
Now, 30 years later this man, W. Mark Felt, is being hailed as a hero.
What a bunch of unmitigated, rotgut, unadulterated CRAP!
This guy should be reviled, scorned, excoriated, excommunicated, etcetera, et al, and so on, blah blah blah blah.
He was sworn to uphold the law not adjudicate it. He was sworn to protect secrets not reveal them. He was sworn to collect intelligence, not publish it.
Consider this, what if he had given this information to the Soviets and not to the Washington Post? (author's note: that might be a distinction without a difference) Would Felt not have been guilty of espionage and treason? Why is what he did so different? He knew that our enemies - both foreign and domestic - would read his revelations in the morning paper.
There is probably a good reason why Felt kept silent all of these years. He knew that what he did was illegal and improper. The practice of FBI agents leaking confidential information to the press still goes on regularly.
I have personally spoken to reporters from national press outlets who asked me questions about facts that they could only have known from FBI sources.
This situation must not be allowed to continue. At 91 years of age, Felt is probably beyond the age at which his arrest would be viewed by anyone as a positive step.
On the other hand, perhaps the FBI should revoke his pension and take other steps to ensure that a message is sent to everyone - both inside and outside the agency- that the power of the State which is vested in each Agent and employee, carries with it significant repsonsibility.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
