Common Sense for Uncommon Times |
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John Ashcroft is a dangerous menace to American values. He doesn't believe in freedom, states' rights, or the rights of an individual to freely practice no religion. His Pentecostal agenda is at odds with the needs of the country and the Constitution, and I call for his immediate resignation for the good of the United States of America which all of us, including Ashcroft, love.
Heroes
Thomas Paine
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
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Saturday, June 01, 2002
Want to read a scary article? The whole thing is chilling in an "I didn't realize it was this bad." way, but the part that always resonates with me is when they talk about getting new computer systems and how it takes years. Here's a direct quote from the article linked above: Agents also complained that the agency's analytical problems were made worse by an antiquated computer system. For instance, agents cannot send e-mail messages from their desktop computers; they must use personal laptops to send them. Year after year, senior officials said, Congress refused to spend the hundreds of millions needed to upgrade the F.B.I.'s computer system. Congress, wary after spending hundreds of millions on failed computer systems for other agencies, wanted the bureau to ensure that the system would work. Three years ago, the bureau hired a former I.B.M. executive to set up a system, but agents say it is still years away from completion. Years away? What are these guys smoking? Half the people reading and writing blogs must be computer weenies of one stripe or another, myself proudly included. I could engineer and install a quantum leap improvement in their network, communications, email, knowledge management, and document retrieval system in three months, and that's assuming normal working routines. On a crash basis the FBI could be up to speed in a month. They are listening to way too many consultants who have a vested interest in stretching contract times and values. They'd be better off listening to the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" guy and connecting all their agents with a private Blogger system. (I want the commission on that sale!) If you want to know how to disseminate information in a hurry and find out who people listen to and who they ignore, just take a look at the discussions and traffic on blogspot. It's very enlightening but I bet the Feds don't have a clue about it. It's not just Ashcroft. Much as I like to poke at the old rattler with a sharp stick, I'll save some energy for the other slackers in charge of our national security. Both the Pentagon and FBI are top heavy with pissant paper pushers getting their tickets punched. I called earlier for a 20% purge of headquarters staff, but that may have been way too conservative. It might be that eliminating FBI headquarters entirely is the best way to change the culture. Something equally dramatic might be necessary at the Pentagon where insular, parochial squabbling has created a military command structure afraid to engage, unwilling to lead, and too hidebound to change. In any private industry this would have resulted in long ago bankruptcy, but we keep filling up the trough and they keep swilling it down. How about this. If you've got a star, you're gone. If you want a true revolt of the colonels to get some necessary changes, maybe you have to open up all the command slots above them. I'll listen to counter arguments with care, but you're going to have to show me that what we've got is better than what we could have. Send your suggestions to dave at sonoma dot net. FBI Director Mueller, undoubtedly a lame duck, announced the transfer of 400 agents to counter-terrorism from narcotics. On the surface this sounds like the government is finally getting serious about terrorism. Unfortunately, that still leaves more than 2,000 FBI agents on the drug beat. I don't know about your particular mix of worry between terror attacks and drugs, but as far as I know, street prices of drugs are as low as they have ever been, our prisons are loaded with reasonably harmless drug abusers, and even Spain has moved to abandon their futile drug war. Ashcroft might need to swallow a couple of bitter pills, but giving up on chasing virtual (and victimless) porn, death with dignity laws in Oregon, and medical marijuana users might just free up some real resources to go after terrorism. Get over it, John. Dancing is here to stay and so are drugs, sex, and dying. If you can't keep your religion out of your job (and you haven't), you ought to resign. Now. Okay, Catherine Seipp has a good article about blogging. She gets her facts right at least. What hasn't crossed her curiosity bump is the Socratic nature of a blog dialog. For instance, Instapundit's Teen Sex discussion emerged, created a massive flurry of postings, and was resolved in a reasonable consensus within a very short time frame. Critics can complain about the self absorption of bloggers but a closer reading would show an intense regard for the opinions of others. Not from an ego-boosting page counting glory hound rationale, but from an honest interest in dialog, dissent, discussion, and debate. There are plenty of "I'm Right, goddammit" bloggers, but my reading of the eclectic horde contains a lot more listeners and reasoned debaters. Letters to the Editor are well and good but they're a static anachronism in the 21st century. We've all read idiotic comments (where are the editors) that make us want to reach through the printing press and punch the writer. By the time we respond, days or weeks may have passed and nobody but us recalls the original letter. Blogs bring this nose-punching into real time and allow the universal satisfaction of at least getting one word in edgewise, even if it isn't the last one. Friday, May 31, 2002
Okay, where was I. Ashcroft didn't get it, doesn't get it, and can't get it. He's a moral warrior in a country with no moral battles that are legally contestible. He's picking stupid fights, wasting the country's time and resources, and generally pissing people off. We want and need an attorney general who can clean house at the lamentably dysfunctional FBI and start sticking it to our enemies, preferrably the foreign ones. His appeal of the Oregon death with dignity decision is the mark of a religiously intolerant man, not a dispassionate civil servant working on behalf of the American people. When the judge in that case rightfully admonished him for interfering in the affairs of a state he should have backed off. His appeal shows arrogance and a fundamental misunderstanding of our Federal system. Not a good sign from a former governor and senator. He has proven his inability to do his job protecting the country and it's time for him to go. The gist of the spiel was that we have an Attorney General who has: 1. an abnormal interest in child pornography 2. a reluctance to be photographed within range of a stutuary breast 3. a demonstrated inability to let the voters of Oregon determine their own laws 4. a fixation on marijuana and drugs in general as the biggest threat to America 5. an inability to understand that Americans, by and large, don't need more than one new gun a month. 6. an unhealth fixation on child porn. 7. virtual child porn on his virtual mind all day long. Did I mention child porn? Hey John! Wake up, dude! There's no giant child porn industry! The US Justice Department is the biggest distributor of child pornography in the United States...along with the US Postal Service. Hey John, I've just got one thing to say to you: "Osama bin Laden". Today's papers make it clear...oh yeah, Post. Damn it. I just wrote the world's most eloquent indictment of J Edgar Ashcroft and Blogger ate it during a time-out. I type fast, but I guess I paused too much. I guess I'll have to Post |