No subject

Fri Feb 24 11:55:10 PST 2006

to let Americans know about torture being done in their name or the
domestic spying to which their neighbors are being subjected, we won’t
need newspapers anyway. Collections of fairy tales will do. That, it
seems, is a lot of what we’re getting right now anyway -- and that goes
for what they claim are our values.
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size=3D2>&nbsp;</FONT>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New =
Roman"=20
size=3D5><B><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: black">Witch hunts enough to go=20
around</SPAN></B></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: black">By Joan Chittister=
,=20
OSB</SPAN></B><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: black"> <?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns=
 =3D=20
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT=
></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><FONT=20
size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><B><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: black">H</SPAN></B><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black">ere=92s a story we might need to worry about a bit. =
In 1918=20
during World War I, <I>The New York Times</I> reports, 79 Montanans were=20
convicted of sedition for speaking out =93in ways deemed critical of the=20
<?xml:namespace prefix =3D st1 ns =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:=
smarttags"=20
/><st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">United=20
States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.=94<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT>=
</P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">Forty-=
one of them=20
got prison terms of one to 20 years and were fined from $200 to $20,000. In=
 one=20
case, 12 children of one family were put up for adoption after the father =
went=20
to prison and the family farm failed. One of these children, now 90, is =
still=20
alive. She will be present for the ceremony in which the present governor =
of=20
<st1:State w:st=3D"on"><st1:place w:st=3D"on">Montana</st1:place></st1:=
State>, Brian=20
Schweitzer, pardons these German-Americans, one of whom went to jail for =
saying=20
that the food regulations put in place during the war were a =93big=20
joke.=94<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Sedition.=20
Convictions. Jail sentences. Pardons for being critical of government =
policies.=20
Impossible? Don=92t be too sure. It looks as if we could launch a few witch=
 hunts=20
ourselves these days.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">James =
Risen and=20
Eric Lichtblau of <I>The New York Times</I> and Dana Priest of <I>The =
Washington=20
Post</I> were just awarded journalism=92s highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize=
, for=20
their stories on our secret torture chambers in Eastern European countries =
and=20
domestic spying on U.S. citizens.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">As I =
understand=20
it, Bill Bennett, former secretary of education, would like, on the other =
hand,=20
to put these three reporters in jail.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Bennett was clear=20
in his condemnation of that kind of journalism. He said that the reporters =
=93took=20
classified information, secret information, published it in their =
newspapers,=20
against the wishes of the president, against the request of the president =
and=20
others that they not release it.=94<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Nothing to be=20
doubted here. Bennett calls these journalists traitors. He says they ought =
to be=20
in prison rather than picking up prizes.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=93I =
don=92t think=20
what they did was worthy of an award,=94 he said. =93I think what they did =
was=20
worthy of jail. These people who reveal our secrets, who hurt our war =
effort,=20
who hurt the efforts of our CIA, who hurt efforts of the president=92s =
people --=20
they shouldn=92t be given awards for this. They should be looked into (=
through)=20
the Espionage Act.=94<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">He did=
 not,=20
however, say anything about the president=92s =93selective declassification=
=94 --=20
leak, in common parlance -- of classified material for political reasons. =
To=20
bolster his defense of the invasion of <st1:country-region w:st=3D"on"><st1=
:place=20
w:st=3D"on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the reason for which was=
=20
beginning to unravel, Bush, we know now, had aides leak what to that point =
had=20
been classified but unsubstantiated material. So, we have to assume that if=
=20
Bennett wants reporters in jail for publishing material that =93hurt our =
war=20
effort, hurt the efforts of our CIA, hurt efforts of the president=92s =
people,=94 he=20
must mean the president, too.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">Who, =
in fact,=20
endangers the country more: A president by lying about the certain need for=
=20
pre-emptive war, domestic spying or outsourced torture sites or journalists=
 by=20
telling the truth about the corner-cutting on the=20
Constitution?<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">After =
all, not=20
only was classified material =93leaked=94 by the president -- former chief =
of staff=20
to the vice president Lewis Libby=92s word, not mine -- it was suspect. =
Knowingly=20
suspect.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">The =
president=92s=20
own intelligence community said it could not be verified. But the president=
 used=20
it anyway to justify what could not be justified. It was error upon error -=
- or=20
treason upon treason -- if we apply Mr. Bennett=92s value system broadly. =
And=20
since Bill Bennett has become the =93Value Czar=94 of the country, probably=
 we=20
should.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">But =
that=92s the=20
obvious -- and almost irrelevant -- part of the situation. The real =
question is=20
what, if anything, will be left of the checks and balance structure of the=
=20
republic if we begin to jail reporters for telling us what we need to know =
to=20
preserve the Constitution and the character of the=20
country.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Ironically=20
enough, the very week the Pulitzer Prize was awarded, Mark Felt appeared on=
=20
national TV to discuss his guiding role as =93Deep Throat=94 in exposing =
the=20
Watergate cover-up and the eventual resignation of Richard=20
Nixon.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Question: Should=20
Bernstein and Woodward have gone to jail rather than Chuck Colson, Gordon =
Liddy,=20
and Bob Haldeman, who planned the robbery and, worse, the cover-up by the =
Oval=20
Office?<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">Think =
carefully=20
here. The whole future of the country may be at=20
stake.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">What =
will happen=20
to this democracy=92s commitment to the Fourth Estate, that institution of=
=20
protected public voice that emerged out of the French Revolution to act as =
a=20
brake on the human tendency to autocratic pretensions even in republics? If=
 the=20
media are denied the right to uncover and publish acts of government =
wrongdoing,=20
what will happen to democracy itself?<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">If we =
begin to=20
jail journalists for telling us what we have a right -- a need -- to know =
about=20
the way any given administration is frittering away the Constitution, the=20
nation=92s integrity will at best be the stuff of history. We will be one =
more=20
banana republic governed by successive gangs of opportunists, thugs and=20
despots.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">If =
journalists=20
are denied the right to investigate those who do not investigate themselves=
, how=20
is this country to have any hope of stopping corruption in its tracks, of =
really=20
being the country we have always thought ourselves to=20
be?<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-=
alt: auto"><SPAN=20
style=3D"COLOR: black"><FONT size=3D4><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">From =
where I=20
stand, when it becomes traitorous for an American reporter to let Americans=
 know=20
about torture being done in their name or the domestic spying to which =
their=20
neighbors are being subjected, we won=92t need newspapers anyway. =
Collections of=20
fairy tales will do. That, it seems, is a lot of what we=92re getting right=
 now=20
anyway -- and that goes for what they claim are our=20
values.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></BODY></HTML>

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