| In "Criminal Inquiry Opens Into Spying Leak," Trent | | | | at your lack of fairness. Think back to when you were |
| Duffy, spokesman for President Bush in Crawford, | | | | a child. "Do what I say not what I do" doesn't work as |
| Texas, read the following from a prepared | | | | a parenting rule of thumb. Children do what they see |
| statement:The leaking of classified information is a | | | | done. It doesn't work for governance either.It doesn't |
| serious issue. The fact is that Al Qaeda's playbook is | | | | matter if all prisoners say they aren't guilty. The fact is |
| not printed on Page 1, and when America's is, it has | | | | that prisoners tend to know who is and isn't guilty, and |
| serious ramifications. You don't need to be Sun Tzu to | | | | treating the innocent the same as the guilty |
| understand that (Shane, 2005).Unlike Bush and Duffy, | | | | emphasizes to both innocent and guilty that actual |
| Sun Tzu did understand the ramifications of the | | | | innocence and guilt don't matter. Who you are matters |
| President's stance, and why it is ineffective as well as | | | | and who your friends are--and, most importantly, not |
| wrong.First of all, Al Qaeda's playbook is printed on | | | | getting caught matters. Muzzling the whistle-blowers (if |
| Page 1. The US intelligence community, military and | | | | you are the government) and snitches (if you are the |
| nonmilitary, has long been considered poor on basic | | | | guilty--and who says the government and the guilty |
| library research skills. Whether they don't value them, | | | | can't be one and the same) matters. Maintaining a |
| emphasizing fieldwork over homework, or don't make | | | | smokescreen matters.Being innocent is no shield |
| use of the results when they don't like what they find | | | | against mistreatment and torture, so the obvious |
| is moot. The intelligence community and the Bush | | | | conclusion is there's little benefit to abiding by the law. |
| administration have made numerous mistakes that | | | | The guilty hide since getting caught is the only |
| most reasonably informed citizens knew were | | | | meaningful problem in such a situation and elude the |
| mistakes. Many folks here and abroad told this | | | | authorities. The innocent are gathered up |
| administration why in time to prevent the errors. The | | | | indiscriminately, or turned in by the bigoted or people |
| administration ignored them.It's not that Bush and the | | | | with a grudge against them, and tortured until they |
| US intelligence community don't know that a good | | | | confess to whatever it is their torturers want to |
| researcher can find out just about anything they want | | | | hear.We don't need citizens to feel they won't be |
| to know about every organization and entity in the | | | | protected from abuse by the government and |
| world at the public library. They do know that. That's | | | | malicious neighbors. We don't need citizens to feel the |
| why they are very concerned about who's reading | | | | government acts to benefit only itself and its cronies at |
| what at the library.You don't need a library to find out | | | | citizens' expense. We don't need scofflaws in |
| how to make a bomb, dirty or otherwise, or any of the | | | | government. Those things encourage general |
| lethal, terrorist things that Bush claims justifies spying on | | | | lawlessness and swell the ranks of terrorists.And, that |
| American citizens including what they look at when in | | | | means we need what our Constitution sets forth, open |
| the library. You can find out all that stuff on the Internet. | | | | government. Disperse the smoke. People must see |
| Even Al Qaeda's playbook. It's not like it or any other | | | | what's happening and decide what is right and what is |
| terrorist group has been innovative. The same as their | | | | wrong. In this country, oversight is done by our elected |
| US intelligence counterparts (and they are mirror | | | | representatives. The innocent need to know they will |
| images of each other), they have little imagination and | | | | have due process so that they can demonstrate their |
| a lot of arrogance. They follow each other like sheep | | | | innocence, and continue to feel there is value in being |
| doing what the other does. See what the US does | | | | law-abiding.The three branches of government must |
| and you know what the terrorist groups will do. Watch | | | | be equal and responsible partners--even in |
| the terrorist groups and learn the next move of the | | | | wartime.And, when judged wrong, the offending |
| US.You need the library to delve into the kinds of | | | | branch of government must stop its wrongdoing, not |
| records where effective means of changing institutions | | | | persecute the people who point out its mistakes. The |
| can be found. You need a library to research the root | | | | other two branches of government have a |
| causes of current problems using primary sources so | | | | responsibility to make the offending branch stop if it |
| that you can resolve the underlying issues. You need | | | | refuses to do so voluntarily. Everyone hopes that no |
| the library to check the written record, which can be | | | | one will step over the line on his or her watch, but |
| and is sometimes altered on a web site, whether | | | | when it happens, dealing with it is the responsibility that |
| personal or government. Good decision-making as well | | | | goes with the perks of office.We shouldn't be |
| as innovation come from informed thought--something | | | | maintaining concentration camps to hold people on the |
| noticeably lacking in the current White House | | | | basis of their religion or gulags for political prisoners. Not |
| occupants.But, secondly and most importantly, any | | | | here, not anywhere. Unfortunately, we only have the |
| branch of government unilaterally keeping secrets | | | | word of an administration which has repeatedly been |
| from the other branches only benefits the evil-doers. | | | | caught in blatant and gross falsehoods that there has |
| The bad guys, whether in government or elsewhere, all | | | | been any benefit at all in its harassing and imprisoning |
| get to make unsubstantiated claims of questionable | | | | people in these places, and only its word that religion |
| accuracy. Concealed under the cloak of those claims, | | | | and politics don't form the bases for the harassment |
| they all get to follow personal agendas which may or | | | | and imprisonment. It sure looks like religion and politics |
| may not have anything to do with their avowed | | | | are the bases. People, including American soldiers, are |
| purposes.As most US citizens know, the reason our | | | | dying or being grievously and permanently injured |
| founders created three major branches of | | | | because of Bush administration falsehoods.History |
| government--executive, legislative, and judicial--was to | | | | says not only is there no benefit to religious and political |
| provide checks and balances through review of each | | | | persecution, but such actions harm the country that |
| other's actions. They knew that no single branch of | | | | allows those things to continue.Bush and Duffy need to |
| government could be counted on to do its job properly | | | | take time out from vacationing and frat-house partying |
| without being checked and balanced by others of | | | | to actually read Sun Tzu's The Art of War and |
| equal stature and force. History showed that only too | | | | Machiavelli's The Prince (not the CliffsNotes version, |
| clearly.Indeed, there are no modern examples of | | | | but the unabridged version). Those two books may be |
| secret, autocratic governments, such as we see now | | | | the most misunderstood yet most (mis)quoted ever |
| with the Bush administration, with a flourishing middle | | | | written to justify the unjustifiable by ignorant autocrats. |
| class except in the short term. This kind of | | | | How this administration behaves both at home and |
| government only benefits a very limited group of | | | | abroad and excuses its behavior have been shown |
| wealthy elite and their cronies. These governments | | | | for centuries to be the action mainstays of losers.Oh, |
| have all ended or are ending badly--usually not just for | | | | and the US Constitution also frowns on it.Reference: |
| the government itself but also for the people in the | | | | Scott Shane, Criminal Inquiry Opens Into Spying Leak, |
| country as well.Even Machiavelli warned against | | | | New York Times, December 31, 2005.Diana Kirk, a |
| government that trampled the rights of the governed | | | | researcher and analyst with several think tanks, |
| and decreased their benefits. Instead, the Bush | | | | including the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, |
| administration has been following the "playbook" set | | | | SRI International (formerly the Stanford Research |
| out by the Spanish Inquisition and calling those methods | | | | Institute), and Rand Corporation before founding her |
| of governance and interrogation innovative and legal. | | | | company, The Writer's Place, has taught social science |
| Water boarding is new? Oh please.But you don't have | | | | research methodologies at Stanford University and |
| to be particularly well-read to see the effects of | | | | Mills College. See also The Write Stop (writestop.com), |
| autocratic rule, just be a parent. You may get your | | | | WordStar & GNU/Linux (wordstar2.com), and the |
| children to submit to your will, but they then become | | | | WordStar Users Group Community (wordstar2.com |
| sneaky to get their way while building up resentment | | | | WordStar_Users) for her various interests. |