A Tangled Web

A Tangled Web

Rhetoric aside, need to get to bottom of 'Washington outsider's' uranium claim

Originally printed Sunday, July 20, 2003

Times-Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas

With all the rhetoric aside, what have we learned this past week?

George W. Bush ran for president as a self-professed "outsider" to Washington. I don't know if I would be proud of that moniker, knowing that my own father had been a president, vice-president, director of the CIA, ambassador to Beijing, permanent U.S. representative to the U.N., a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and had actually served in the armed forces. And that my grandfather had been a senator.

Despite those ties to Washington, it was a claim he made. And a lot of the voters fell for it. This is because it was fashionable in the late 1990's to assign the same venom to "them Washington types" that we once held in reserve for "them Commie reds."

The intelligence gaffe, the unwillingness to utilize any diplomacy, the laughable (if you can keep from crying) relaxations on environmental policies, the assault on the Bill of Rights perpetrated by an ingeniously named USA Patriot Act, and a tax scheme with ramifications we won't fully realize until he is not elected, again. I guess we have learned maybe it is OK to be one of "them Washington types."

I may not like the fact that my mechanic is going to charge me $900 to fix my A/C in my car, but I'm sure as hell not going to ask my dry cleaner to give it a shot.

So, what about the slip up in intelligence? Direct translation: LIE. Well, at least I hope it is a lie. Not for the politicization of the matter, but so that I might retain some confidence in an intelligence community that could let Sept. 11 happen.

If the president didn't lie, then we are at Square 1. We have intelligence agencies that have none. However, if he lied, as all evidence is suggesting, then perhaps they are capable of learning from past mistakes and they were working to keep us safe. If he lied, he has led us, unnecesarily, into a war and subsequent period of rebuilding that has destabilized the region and put the sons and daughters of our nation in harm's way. If he lied, then there are 150-plus U.S. soldiers' and countless Iraqi citizens' lives on his head. If he lied, he is guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor.

"But what evidence is suggesting he lied?", I'm sure you are asking, right? Well the lap dog journalistic community has decided it doesn't like the bones being handed it by this administration. They are, for the first time since Sept. 11, doing their jobs.

Political speeches are being taken apart word by word. Although Bush's handlers are stating that the uranium quote was a single component in our rush to war, we now know that the U.N. Inspections teams and the IAEA, led by Hans Blix and Mohammed El Baradai, respectively, effectively debunked all of our other components, prior to our attack.

On Wednesday of this past week, the FBI made public an investigation into this matter. With any luck, we'll soon be able to ask Bush where his buck stops.

Honor, Above All

HONOR, ABOVE ALL

Sacrifice only acceptable when cause is a just one
Originally printed Sunday, August 3, 2003
in the Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas

I was a 17 year old senior. I knew that I wanted to serve my nation and, taking the lead of my brother-in-law, whom I idolized, knew that the Army was the best.

I visited the recruiter, knowing that I wanted to be a Ranger, just like him. But my ASVAB had different plans for me. I was bound for military intelligence in the field of linguistics. And had a condition that precluded my enlistment not been discovered, that is exactly what I would have done. My service would have to be directed down another, equally important avenue.

Last Monday, I celebrated my 27th birthday. I suppose most of us do a little soul searching around that certain day of the year. So I was particularly struck when, for research purposes, I learned that the average age of the fallen soldiers in Iraq came to 26.915 years of age.

I couldn't help but think, "there but for the grace of God...". These brave men and women are in a position where they are not allowed to question orders. They are unable to hold their commander-in-chief to any account. Their sacrifice ensures that I must. This is my duty. This is my service. And I do so, in honor of them.

Two-hundred-and--fifty is a number that some believe to be an acceptable sacrifice. But therein lies the problem. It is a number. It isn't 20-year-old Spec. Christian C. Shultz from Colleyville, Texas who died on July 11. Nor is it 21-year-old Petty Officer, 3rd Class, Doyle W. Bollinger Jr. of Poteau, Okla., who died on June 6 when an unexploded piece of ordinance went off in the area he was working. It isn't Pfc. Lori Piestewa of Tuba City, Ariz., who was one of 10 who lost their lives when they were ambushed while repairing stalled vehicles that had become seperated from their supply convoy. It isn't 51-year-old 1st Sgt. Christopher D. Coffin of Bethlehem, Pa., who died when his vehicle crashed into a ditch to avoid striking a civilian vehicle.

It is a number. It is cold. And it can never accurately humanize this conflict. It is an insult to the lives and deaths of these brave men and women to say that their sacrifices, and sacrifices yet to come, are acceptable.

And that leads me to the topic of sacrifice. Sacrifice is only acceptable when the cause is just and we are defending against pure evil. You will know when we are against that evil because the sacrifice will extend back home, to all citizens of America. Our biggest sacrifice, to date, asked by this administration? Go out to dinner; see a movie; spend lots of money on this tax-free holiday weekend. Um, you mean all I have to do is buy this pair of Nikes I've been wanting and I'm helping us to win the war?

Think again.

True sacrifices were made in this country during World War II, and that was against pure evil. That was against real threats to our homeland. Before "Operation: Stir Up The Beehive Of Muslim Fundamentalism," the only verified threat to our homeland was Osama bin Laden, a man whose al-Qaida network breached our vulnerability and brought us headlong into this brave new world. The administration can't find and end this man or his network. And the only place you'll find him, lately, is on the inside back cover of the Sunday Times-Record News Op-Ed section.

You had better be certain that the cause is just when you ask our brave men and women to sacrifice the promise of youth. They are unable to hold their commander-in-chief to any account. Their sacrifice ensures that I must. This is my duty. This is my service. And I do so, in honor of them.

Life Isn't Fair

Life Isn't Fair

Unfortunately, there are times when the bad guys win

Originally printed Sunday, August 17, 2003

in the Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas

When the editorial board sat down last week, I had given three possibilities that I was going to write about for this week's column. What you are reading now is not one of those initial ideas.

In addition to being a student at Midwestern State University, I am also employed by the department of Housing and Residence Life as a resident assistant. This week has been one of the more challenging weeks, both mentally and physically.

My fellow RA's and I have been waking before 7 am and going through our day, almost non-stop, until as late as 10 pm, all in the effort to prepare for the worst-case scenarios that can occur in college life. And believe me, there are a lot of worst case scenarios.

Through this grueling process, our staff begins to bond, create relationships and, at times, get to their wit's end and bicker and complain. Emotions can run high.

It was when emotions were at their most fevered pitch this week that I was reintroduced to the theme of today's column: Life isn't fair.

That's right. Life isn't fair. There are times when the bad guy wins. There are times when you are not respected. There are times when you fail to respect others. It is human nature. But it occurred to me that when faced with adversity, when you learn that life isn't fiar, the easy road is to accept that fate and move on.

Or, another option is to not choose acquiescence, which soon leads to cynicism.

No. When faced with an injustice, raise your voice and be counted as against it. The other side may still win, but you will have been heard.

For 27 years, I know I have lived a lot of life. That is why I was particularly struck that I was brought face-to-face with this lesson here, in Wichita Falls. Not to say that I can't learn anything here. Quite to the contrary; I am learning daily while here. I am just surprised that such a basic lesson had been overlooked until now.

The applications of this lesson are far reaching, too. In the 1960's, life wasn't fair for the black population of this country, but they stood up to the inequality, to the injustice. And while there is still progress to be made, the distance behind is far more than the distance ahead.

The same could be said for the advancement of women in our society from second-class, subserviant behavior. Or the current "culture war" concerning the gay and lesbian citizens of the United States. All three have stood against unjust opinions and beliefs. And they are being heard by a more informed, more enlightened citizenry.

There is a line from the Broadway musical, "Ragtime" that really hits this nail on the head. Sung by Coalhouse, the lead character:

My path may lead to heaven or hell,

and God will say what's best,

but one thing He will never say

is that I went quietly to my rest.

In that line, he states that man is not accountable to man but to his higher power, alone. Where injustice is concerned, you cannot stay silent. Not for injustice against you. Not for an injustice against others. Raise your voice and be counted against it.

Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again???

Yes! That's right. I am back in the grand D/FW area. I am back in my boyhood home (oh the horror) and I am gainfully employed in the service industry, once again.

On starting at this new restaurant, I feel as though I have entered some alternate universe. There are reincarnations of many of my favorite (and some not-so-favorite) people that I have worked with in the past. It seems that my Mercury days have come to recreate themselves. Waiter Jason has been recreated in an amalgum of two of my current co-workers. One insanely smart and aware of current goings on, the other funny in a big, dumb oaf sort of way. Sean is represented by someone who is his own mirror image. He has kids but no wife. Sean, of course, has had a wife (wives) but no kids. I wonder if alternate Sean wants a wife as badly as Sean wants kids. Jennifer's double is also named Jennifer. Though I don't think Jennifer was much of a singer. But then maybe new Jennifer isn't much into fashion design.

Other personalities abound and it is slightly disconcerting how many similarities there are. So, it is a nice return to the metroplex. I feel very much at home in my new surroundings. It's almost as though I never left. That comfort always makes change that much more bearable.