September 11, 2012

Today I touch the memory of ordinary lives and extraordinary bravery. It's a day for honoring those who serve my community, my state, my nation.

It's time to visit again the aching grief, to embrace my rage and to shape anger into vigilance that guards my freedoms.

Whatever else I thought I needed to say can wait until tomorrow.

Today, I remember.

'The Sound of Silence'

On a day filled with poignant remembrances, the performance at Ground Zero this morning by an elderly Paul Simon -- arguably the quintessential New Yorker -- was moving, fitting, perfect.

Catharsis in the comics

In today's edition of The Columbus Dispatch, many of the regular Sunday comics commemorate, in one way or another, the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Flipping through these colorful back pages this morning, I was especially touched by several of the long-running strips, the ones that trace back to my childhood and beyond -- Beetle Bailey, Hägar the Horrible, The Family Circus and others.
Dean Young still writes Blondie, the classic 'toon once drawn by his father, Chic Young, from 1930 until his death in 1973. I have no doubt that Dad would've approved of today's strip.

September 11, 2011

Today, ten years on, I touch the memory of ordinary lives and extraordinary bravery. It's a day for honoring those who serve my community, my state, my nation.

It’s time to visit again the aching grief, to embrace my rage and to shape anger into vigilance that guards my freedoms.

Whatever else I thought I needed to say can wait until tomorrow.

Today, I remember.

First-of-the-month roundup, Part I

Like many of my fellow citizens, I've spent a lot of time recently tracking the progress (or lack thereof) of debt-ceiling discussions -- more about that in Part II. First, I want to hit a few other topics.

Foreshadowing
The U.S. has more than its share of white, Christian, right-wing nutjobs who prefer that anyone who doesn't profess the same xenophobia be exterminated. So when I heard that a likewise-addled Norwegian murdered 78 innocents on July 22, I didn't wonder if such a massacre could happen here -- I pondered how soon it will happen here.

Hot as a pumpkin patch
I'm not handling the heat well this summer. The last time I felt this way was in mid-September, when a day of pickin' punkins kicked my aging, out-of-shape ass.

Truth is, I've become way too accustomed to air conditioning. And strangely enough, the fix for my heat-intolerance is to spend more time working outside. That's easier said than done, considering, but I'm working on it.

Our garden grows...and grows...and grows...
The aforementioned bounty of cucumbers is taking over our small garden plot, threatening to take over my life. Now three tomato plants are trying my patience -- and I was warned.

A while back, my neighbor told me of a spring morning many years ago, when she witnessed our home's previous owner, standing on a stepladder in his garden, setting ten-foot stakes. When asked why, he replied politely that this was especially fertile soil, insisting that the absurdly tall stakes were quite necessary to support his tomatoes.

Later that summer, according to my neighbor, the optimistic old gardener was proven right.

This season's tomatoes are following the same path skyward, today nearly eight feet tall, so heavy with fruit that they're pulling their cages from the ground. I've supplemented the leaning wire enclosures with six-foot bamboo stakes and string. I'm not sure that'll be enough.

I'm also having a love-hate relationship with some "volunteer" vines -- gourds or pumpkins, I think -- which sprouted from seeds that survived composting. I've pulled hundreds of seedlings from our raised beds since May, choosing to leave a few that came up outside the fence. Now, despite my pruning, they cover a hundred square feet of lawn.

Fertile soil, indeed. We haven't used a speck of chemical herbicide, pesticide or fertilizer, by the way -- nothing but hand-weeding and home-cooked compost.

Sneak peek
I'm dropping a placeholder here for the next installment of my Urban Resources series.

If there's one resource that most of us take for granted and mismanage horribly, it's water. I've become particularly aware of it this summer, partly through gardening and partly because every month I have to pay the village for what I use. I've been exploring ways to conserve, extend and even harvest water -- stay tuned.

After the circus leaves town
A couple of flatbed trucks rumbled up the street late yesterday afternoon, carrying rolls of canvas and aluminum poles -- the last remnants of our village's annual festival.

For four days we'd been treated to heavy traffic on the street and sidewalk in front of our house. The sounds of live music, some great and some absolutely awful, drifted over our yard from the big concert stage. There were carnival rides and games-of-chance, fair food and a beer garden, a classic-car show and, naturally, a parade.

No fireworks this year, though. Budget cuts, don'tcha know.

We made the three-minute walk to the festival grounds on Wednesday evening, again on Saturday afternoon for a funnel-cake fix, and finally on Saturday night for the traditional closing concert -- a performance by a gray-haired pop star that festival organizers can get cheap.

It may be a weenie little festival, but this is home. We like it fine.

[snicker]

I don't waste time fretting about any dreaded "liberal bias" in the mainstream news media. Ideological slants abound, of course -- MSNBC on the left and Fox News on the right come to mind -- but they're poseurs, not credible news networks.

I'm fully capable of digging past headlines and sound bites, thank you very much, and I can form my own opinions.

That said, CNN is my primary source for TV news. Over 31 years it's developed the horsepower to be present, relevant, agile and useful. It's not 100% accurate every time but, in my experience, it gets its facts straight far more often than do most other outlets. When it screws up, it takes responsibility.

One thing that continues to annoy me about CNN, however, is the outright clumsiness of many of its anchors. Carol Costello, for example, clearly is better suited to early-morning duty at a small-market affiliate. Wolf Blitzer, though well-traveled and smart, is such a company man that his reports often become interminably awkward infomercials for the network.

The unsophisticated Brooke Baldwin took over the mid-afternoon slot last fall when CNN fired The Crazy Cuban. Late in yesterday's program, she preceded a commercial break with the following tease:

"More and more members of Congress [are] getting a look at those pictures of a dead Osama bin Laden, and those who have been invited to see these photographs sit on the House and Senate committees on intelligence and the military.

"Coming up next, I will speak with Congressman Doug Lamborn about what he saw and why one Senator suggested bin Laden was still alive in some of those pictures. I wonder what he saw. Stay right here."

The implication: Our guys photographed bin Laden before they shot him. Intrigued, I stuck around for the interview. Here's how it began:

BALDWIN: "Congressman Lamborn, thank you for coming on. And sir, let's just start with, how many photos did you see today at Langley?"

LAMBORN: "Well, when I went over to the CIA headquarters this morning, there were about six or eight photos. And some have a side-by-side showing him living, but from at roughly the same angle, so you can use that for identification and comparison purposes. He is, indeed, dead."

Ok, at that point I felt foolish for biting on the hype -- that is, I got it and laughed (at myself) out loud. Baldwin, alas, did neither.

BALDWIN: "You bring up -- and this is what we [heard] from Senator [Jim] Inhofe last night, talking to my colleague, Eliot Spitzer. So, several of these photos were of him living. Can you explain more specifically how -- how those photos were shot?"

LAMBORN: "Oh, they just had on-file photos of him over the years, and they only do a side-by-side to show the same angle and for ID purposes for, like, the forensic people.... He is dead."

There was a brief-but-delicious pause.

BALDWIN: "I see. So the living photos were not shot in the [Abbottabad, Pakistan] compound...."

Behind every inept anchor is a whole team of doofuses -- the detached producer, the clueless director and an army of wet-behind-the-ears interns. Take a look at what Sen. Inhofe said on Spitzer's program the night before, words that formed the basis for Baldwin's on-air idiocy:

"Three of the first 12 pictures were of [bin Laden] when he was alive. And they did this for the purpose of being able to look at those and seeing the nose, the eyes and [their] relationship for positive identification purposes."

Sen. Inhofe's description seems crystal-clear to me. It didn't send host Spitzer careening into the ditch, either, but it exposed the gulf between Baldwin and common sense.

For me, this won't prompt a rant about incompetence in the media -- there's incompetence in every profession -- but I was glad for a chance to chuckle at chuckleheads.

'Tommy this, an' Tommy that'

Since Sunday night, naturally we've been getting more information -- I hesitate to say details -- about the assault that resulted in the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

There was a firefight; um, there really wasn't a firefight. The target was unarmed; he was reaching for a weapon; well, he might've been reaching for a weapon. He didn't indicate his wish to surrender; actually, he wasn't given an opportunity to surrender.

None of that matters -- not to me. With apologies to Ghostbusters:

We came, we saw, we kicked his ass.

In the analysis that's followed, we've heard the sort of second-guessing we've come to expect from pundits and elected officials who have neither the standing nor the experience to offer intelligent comment. Ideologues from the left quote Yoda or misquote MLK, suggesting either that we shouldn't celebrate the death of the butcherous bin Laden or that he should've been captured and tried. Right-wingers misquote Samuel Clemens or George Orwell while (at best) damning the Commander-in-Chief with faint praise.

Neither extreme strays far from unfiltered ignorance. And both, ultimately, pile insult on the men and women -- from commanders to warriors to those "who only stand and wait" -- who sacrifice much and risk all to defend our freedom.

Over a century ago, Kipling gave voice to the warfighter's bitterness at ungrateful countrymen. I'll close with the classic tribute.


Tommy
by Rudyard Kipling (1892)

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

A battle won, a war on

As we know it, as I see it

I've digested a fair amount of news, analysis and commentary since Sunday night, and I've managed to collect some of my thoughts.

Osama bin Laden is dead. He died on May 2, 2011 at the barrel of a gun wielded by a member of DEVGRU (f.k.a. SEAL Team Six). Theories to the contrary have no basis beyond anti-government paranoia.

I celebrate, without apology, both the death of Osama bin Laden and the manner in which he met justice. 'Nuff said.


This was a "kill mission" from the get-go. All the soft-pedaling we've heard over the last few days is intended to soothe the squeamish. I'm not squeamish and I don't buy it.

Releasing photos of a dead Osama bin Laden won't make a bad thing worse. In other words, the fresh threat posed by his pissed-off followers isn't appreciably greater if we show the world what he looks like after taking one Black Hills round to the chest and another bullet to the head. I don't have a pressing emotional or intellectual need to see the photos myself, but I can't argue against their release.

Radical Islamist terrorism and al-Qaeda are not dead, nor are they mortally wounded. David Morris summarized it simply and well:

"As to the statements that we 'cut the head off of al-Qaeda and radical Islam'...they completely miss the point. That would almost be like saying that when Elvis died, rock-and-roll died with it. Rock-and-roll and al-Qaeda are movements. Both have the equivalent of highly public, well-funded, organized groups as well as garage bands, and solo acts anonymously practicing at home every night -- hoping to someday get to play on the big stage and get famous. Just like rock-and-roll continued after Elvis died, misguided people will continue to try to kill us, disrupt our way of life, and terrorize us after bin Laden's death."

The trail that led to Osama bin Laden began during the second term of Pres. George W. Bush. U.S. intelligence operations unraveled a network of couriers, ultimately tracing one promising thread to the compound in Abbottabad. Pres. Barack Obama missed an opportunity to be magnanimous on Sunday night, however -- he should've expressly highlighted an effort that originated in the previous administration. In my opinion, he should've explicitly thanked his predecessor, but (uncharacteristically) he didn't.

Much of the "heavy lifting" -- developing intelligence that made possible the assassination of Osama bin Laden -- was done by career and long-serving federal employees. Many were around before 9/11 and will be there after Pres. Obama leaves office. That's the nature of (our) government. Though it's great sport to disparage bureaucracy and bureaucrats, these folks deserve our respect.

Pres. Obama made a command decision -- deal with it. Just as Sunday's address was missing a particular expression of gratitude so, too, are statements from the President's political opponents. They thank "the troops" and Pres. Bush but fail to give Pres. Obama his due for making a correct and yes, a gutsy call. Typically, right-wingers don't seem able to distinguish national unity from policy agreement, so they can't bring themselves to say a heartfelt American thank-you. It's a symptom of the grade-school mentality infecting our politics.

The death of Osama bin Laden doesn't put a lock on Pres. Obama's re-election. Far from it, I'm glad to say. Truth is, the expected post-assassination "bump" probably won't help that much or last very long -- and November 2012 is a long way off. (See also Operation Desert Storm and Pres. George H.W. Bush.) In a week or two we'll turn our full attention back to the floundering U.S. economy, this president's weakness and the biggest roadblock to a second term.


The kind of scene captured in the White House photo of the national-security team gathered in the "Situation Room" isn't as rare as most people think it is. I'll leave it at that.

Pakistan is an unreliable ally. We were right to leave Pakistani officials in the dark about the assault on the Abbottabad compound until our DEVGRU team was airborne and outbound -- we couldn't risk jeopardizing OPSEC by informing a regime that's untrustworthy (to put it kindly). That said, maintaining good relations with Pakistan -- without continuing to throw away billions in aid -- will prove useful in the future, as it has in the past. Only simple-minded zero-summers are proposing that we sever ties completely with this (unreliable) ally.


I've lost count of the heroes. Our culture invokes "hero" so often that the word has lost much of its impact. When it truly fills the bill -- ordinary Americans who resisted terrorists on United Flight 93, NYFD firefighters who ran toward near-certain death on 9/11 -- we should use it. And anyone who wants to apply the same label to the real-deal team that assaulted Osama bin Laden's compound on Sunday, well, that's fine by me.

I choose to call them warriors.

Nutjobs & nonsense

"If [Pres. Barack Obama] was a shoo-in for re-election, Osama bin Laden would still be alive today. There would have been no need to undertake the mission." (Rush Limbaugh, to his poodles-- er, fans)

"I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of [Osama bin Laden], you’re stupid. Just think to yourself -- they paraded [Saddam Hussein's] dead sons around to prove they were dead -- why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of [Osama bin Laden] at sea? This lying, murderous [U.S.] Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent -- just put your flags away and THINK!" (Cindy Sheehan, who really is "sorry" -- just not the way she meant it)

"Of course, [Pres. Obama] made his announcement right in the middle of Donald Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice' show. Of course, that was just a coincidence." (Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation, who has yet to meet a conspiracy theory he doesn't love)

"The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please -- bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out -- and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture." (J. Michael Walker, via Andrew Breitbart's Big Peace, giving fuel to the "deathers" movement)

"So why did [Pres. Obama] announce the [assassination of Osama bin Laden] like he was reading the dictionary? You know the answer. It’s because his speech wasn’t so much aimed at Americans. He was being careful of how the 'Arab Street' would interpret his remarks. Any hint of gloating or happiness might be rubbing it in the face of some of the crazies in the Arab World and heaven forbid we get them upset! How dare we Americans look like we’re celebrating his death! The travesty of it all! Give me a break. Isn’t it time to stop catering to thugs?" (David Brody, Christian Broadcasting Network)

"Maybe I should have read Proverbs 24:17 before I wrote that.

"Proverbs 24:17 says: 'Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.'

President Obama actually lived by that important biblical verse by the words and tone he used. I did not and for that I apologize. While I do believe that his remarks were measured so as not to cause more commotion in the Arab World, I got a little caught up in the euphoric celebrations of the evening. The Book of Proverbs got it right and therefore so did President Obama. Pulling out the Bible is the best thing you can do and I wish I had done it sooner." (Brody again -- yet another right-wing ideologue caught with his politics wedged uncomfortably between his religious beliefs)

'The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden'

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." (Pres. Barack Obama, May 1, 2011)

Mrs. KintlaLake and I had just settled in for the night when CNN reported that Pres. Obama would be addressing the American People at 10:30pm. We sat up, switched on the bedside light and traded theories until we learned that the subject of the President's remarks would be "national security."

"Bin Laden," I whispered, scarcely able to believe what I was saying. "Killed or captured, it's gotta be bin Laden."

CNN confirmed my speculation a few minutes later. We got out of bed and woke our 16-year-old, and the three of us gathered around the TV in the kitchen to await the President's remarks.

I pulled a fresh bottle of Jack Daniels from the cabinet, broke the seal and poured two shots. My wife and I raised our glasses to bin Laden's demise -- accompanied by the toast, "Vengeance is mine, dammit!" -- as Pres. Obama began to speak around 11:35pm.

The spawn returned to bed when it was over. Mrs. KintlaLake and I adjourned to the front porch, lit cigarettes and sat quietly, listening to the rain. A pair of whitetail deer grazed nearby.

This morning, of course, Americans are swelling with patriotic pride and celebrating the long-awaited assassination of an infamous Islamist butcher. Beyond that, for practical purposes, little has changed.

(Well, actually, I do need to find a new rifle target.)

The so-called "War on Terror," at least as we've known it, may be over, but the threat of terrorist attacks remains. In fact, the threat is greater now than it was yesterday -- we can expect bin Laden's disciples to see him as a martyr and seek retribution.

Perhaps that danger will ease over time, but it'll never, ever go away. Terrorism is not a specter -- it real and it's here to stay.

We will be attacked again.

The American populace soon will resume its trademark complacency, retreating into the arrogant illusion of safety. Our nation again will become an easy target.

Some of us, on the other hand, will never forget. We know that vigilance is Liberty's guardian, and we will never forget.

Were you confused?

Posted on USAToday.com this morning:

"The Department of Homeland Security is unveiling its new two-level terror alert system today, replacing the often confusing color-coded version...in effect since 9/11."

I can't, for the life of me, figure out what was so confusing about the five-level system we'd been living with for ten years. In reality it was only a three-tier system anyway -- we'll never again see a blue day or even a green moment. The two lowest levels were invented for people who still believe there's such a thing as safety.

So next week we'll have two levels -- Elevated and Imminent -- because too many Americans couldn't count to three, even with pretty colors.

DHS reportedly is forming a "counter-terrorism advisory board" that'll meet within 30 minutes of uncovering a threat. In this alert-by-committee scheme, a public warning must be issued within two hours. Ambitious, sure, but there's more:

"An individual threat alert is issued for a specific time period and then automatically expires. It may be extended if new information becomes available or the threat evolves."

That gem, set forth in the bureaucratic dialect, is the so-called "Sunset Provision" -- yet another artifice for a simple-minded populace that prefers its warnings, like cottage cheese, to have expiration dates. (See also "exit strategy.")

Those of us who cultivate a preparedness mindset won't be leaning too hard on any DHS system -- living color or monochrome, two levels or two hundred. It's but one of many voices informing our choices.

Independence isn't easily confused. Liberty trusts experience over decree. We operate from a continuum of vigilance that the masses never will understand.

'The base of organized self-protection'

In September of 1950, the National Security Resources Board presented its report, United States Civil Defense, to Pres. Harry S. Truman. In the hands of Congress it became the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, which Truman signed into law the following January.

To be sure, the report and subsequent legislation sired a massive bureaucracy -- the FCDA and its inertia-bound grandchildren, FEMA and DHS. But rather than making this a jumping-off point for a harangue about bloated government, I want to focus attention on a simple illustration in the NSRB document.


"The National Civil Defense Pattern" appears on the report's second page. It depicts four concentric rings of civil defense, from local to federal. Notice what's at the center of the pattern:

THE INDIVIDUAL
Calm and well-trained

THE FAMILY
The base of organized self-protection

Also within the inner circle are NEIGHBORHOOD and COMMUNITY. Governments occupy the outer rings -- "if needed" and "as needed."

A 61-year-old cartoon got the concept of preparedness exactly right. Ideally, it begins with individuals taking personal responsibility for their own readiness. Individuals build a "base of self-protection" within the household, on the family.

Readiness spreads from homes to neighborhoods and communities. Reliance on government is a last resort.

Look at where we are today, as a nation. We lean on government like a drunk on a lamppost. We're soft, complacent and dependent -- and we're not ready. Only tin-hatted kooks think about preparedness and home defense, don'tcha know. Hell, nearly half of all Americans want to rob the rest of us of the right to defend ourselves.

The difference between that old civil-defense illustration and what we've become is the difference between Fargo and New Orleans.

We can't fix this ill-prepared culture of entitlement -- really, we can't -- but we can refuse to be part of it. We can declare independence from the dependent masses and act in the best interests of our families, our neighborhoods and our communities.

We know that preparedness begins at home, and we don't need government to help us take care of business.

Quote of the day

"A constitution, a parliament, freedom of right -- of speech, freedom of -- of -- of whatever kind of freedom. I cannot -- I don't know freedom to speak about freedom. I have [been] born and raised in this generation. I have been brainwashed not to think that freedom is a right.

"What's next? What's next are the educated people, the civil people, the loved people, the peaceful people joining all together to rebuild this country again. I'm not going to call it the Libya of tomorrow. It's -- this is a term that everybody is getting sensitive of -- it's going to be the real Libya, the Libya that nobody got to know so far."

(An unidentified Libyan woman, speaking by phone today to CNN, on what she'd want to see after the hoped-for departure of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.)

Poll of the day

A recent CBS News poll brings us both good and bad news.

The good news is that 81% of those surveyed said that airports should use full-body scanners to aid air-travel security. Respondents' answers, overall, differed somewhat by political ideology -- 83% of self-identified Republicans approve of the scans, along with 81% of Democrats and 78% of independents.

The bad news, sort of, is that 52% of those surveyed said that air travelers "of certain racial or ethnic groups...[should not] be subject to additional security checks." Broken down by political affiliation, Democrats were the only group with a majority (64%) declaring that racial and ethnic profiling aren't justified. A plurality of independents (47%) also disapproves of profiling, while a slight plurality of Republicans (46%) said that it's justified.

I'm a bit concerned that the results of the second question reflect our national discomfort with any kind of profiling. If the TSA and its counterparts profile only by race or ethnicity -- which is, specifically, what the CBS News poll asked -- that would be a bad thing from a security standpoint.

Fortunately, I can conclude this post with more good news -- for the last seven years the TSA has been conducting what's called "behavioral profiling," a comprehensive and proven technique for identifying high-risk actors before they act.

I will not fly.

To explain why, I'll begin with the now-familiar threat uttered last week by a 31-year-old software programmer:

"If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested."

And these are the words of Benjamin Franklin:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

I've heard the latter used to defend the former. That, in my opinion, demonstrates both a lack of common sense and a misunderstanding of liberty.

It seems pretty simple to me. The more inventive the terrorists become -- secreting IEDs in shoes or underwear, for example -- the more invasive our security measures must be. Profiling must be more aggressive. Random searches (not triggered by profiling) must be more frequent and less predictable.
Right now, air-travel security involves long lines and big hassles, scanners that can see our nether parts and, if required, pat-downs during which a gloved, uniformed stranger touches those parts. If we want to keep airplanes from falling out of the sky, that's (part of) what has to be done. It is what it is.

Some claim that the scans violate personal privacy and that the pat-downs are a form of sexual assault. While I'll grant that exposing our bodies to x-ray vision might tread on some folks' fragile sensibilities, we do not have a fundamental right to shield ourselves from a measure intended to facilitate the security of a commercial aircraft.

The contention that a security agent's touching of breasts, buttocks and genitals is tantamount to criminal sexual assault -- or even sexual in nature -- is patently absurd. There's neither sexual purpose nor criminal intent.

In support of current security measures, it's become cliché to say that flying is "a privilege, not a right." That misses the mark, I think.

Traveling by air isn't a privilege -- it's a choice.

When we choose to fly we accept the inconvenience of security checkpoints and, if it's our unlucky day, the embarrassment of a full-body scan or a pat-down. We live in a dangerous and uncertain world. Air-travel security is not a violation of our liberties.

Touch my junk, please.

I understand that none of that explains why I choose not to fly.

It's not because I believe that air travel somehow should be made completely safe. The Transportation Security Administration, along with private-sector screeners employed at 16 U.S. airports, overall are doing a thankless job as well as they can under the circumstances.

I can accept (and until now have accepted) a certain degree of risk. That risk is about to rise to a level which I'm unwilling to assume.

Next Wednesday, arguably among the year's busiest at U.S. airports, is National Opt-Out Day:

"It's the day ordinary citizens stand up for their rights, stand up for liberty, and protest the federal government's desire to virtually strip us naked or submit to an 'enhanced pat down' that touches people's breasts and genitals in an aggressive manner. You should never have to explain to your children, 'Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it's a government employee, then it's OK.'"
"You have the right to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines.... All you have to do is say 'I opt out' when they tell you to go through one of the machines. You will then be given an 'enhanced' pat down."
"The government should not have the ability to virtually strip search anyone it wants without cause. The problem has been compounded in that if you do not want to go through the body scanner, the TSA has made the alternative perhaps even worse by instituting 'enhanced' pat downs. ... We do not believe the government has a right to see you naked or aggressively touch you just because you bought an airline ticket."

Yes, it's silly. In spite of that -- or perhaps because of it -- Rep. Ron Paul (natch) has introduced the American Traveler Dignity Act:

"Mr. Speaker, today I introduce legislation to protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse by federal [TSA] employees conducting screenings at the nation’s airports. ...I hope we can pass this legislation and protect Americans from harm and humiliation when they choose to travel."

I predict that in a society infected by political correctness and misguided anti-government sentiment, protests against invasive security measures ultimately will succeed. Even if Paul's or similarly inane legislation fails, TSA reflexively will dial back its screenings and searches -- count on it.

In a perversion of liberty, sensibilities will triumph over security. The risk of traveling by air will increase.

Somewhere -- probably within our own borders -- the terrorists are laughing at us.

Short memory, off-balance

Juan Williams is a smart guy and one sharp journalist. He worked for The Washington Post for 23 years, joined FauxNews in 1997 and National Public Radio a couple of years after that.

Two of those employers are actual news organizations, at least. His presence at the third owes to his (relatively) conservative leanings. Of course, FauxNews sees him as (relatively) liberal.

Williams said this on Monday's edition of The O'Reilly Factor:

"Political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality. I mean, look Bill [O'Reilly], I'm not a bigot, you know the kind of books I've written on the civil rights movement in this country, but when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

"Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America's war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts. But I think there are people who want to somehow remind us all as President Bush did after 9/11, it's not a war against Islam."

NPR promptly fired Williams, saying that his remarks on FOX were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR." Yesterday CEO Vivian Schiller told the Atlanta Press Club that Williams should consult "his psychiatrist or his publicist -- take your pick." Classy.

I hardly know where to begin. The best place, I guess, is with the words that got Williams canned:

"...when I get on a plane...if I see people who are in Muslim garb...I get worried. I get nervous."

I'm quite sure that's how he feels, just as I'm certain that he's not the only American who has the same reaction. His confession flies in the face of "political correctness," that's for damned sure, but it's also unbecoming of a black man who should know better than to perpetuate irrational fear.

His caveats notwithstanding, Williams would be wise to recall many whites' equally unreasonable fear of African-Americans, especially during his youth.

Williams' human reaction is understandable, his independence and candor admirable. His common sense, however, needs a tuneup.

His memory could use a good stretch, too.

And then we come to NPR, which has been less than thrilled with Williams' commentary on FauxNews for a while now. Swamped by a wave of outrage over the firing, the network's ombudsman admitted that "NPR handled this situation badly."

No shit?

Unlike CNN's dismissal of Rick Sanchez a few weeks ago, NPR's termination of Williams robbed it of an intelligent, thoughtful voice of reason -- a (relatively) conservative voice which brought respectable balance to the network's analysis. NPR willfully diminished itself and, as a result, insulted its listeners.

Williams, of course, got a shiny new contract with FauxNews, which insults us all.

Ultimately, I come down on the side of intellectual honesty and, by that measure, NPR falls short. I've ended my support of public broadcasting. It won't resume until NPR regains its balance.

Re-hiring Juan Williams would be a step in the right direction, but I'm not holding my breath.

The United Kingdom of Ohio

They call it "the surveillance society."

By one estimate there are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in use in the UK -- one camera for every 14 people.

It's all in the name of public safety, of course. (This from a nation that hasn't yet met a nanny it didn't love.)

Back on this side of the Pond, today we learned that $2 million of Homeland Security money has brought Mary Poppins to Ohio. The camera-integration project, approved by the Ohio Controlling Board, links cameras statewide to a hub in Columbus, where Ohio officials will be able to access real-time video feeds.

My wife and I actually got wind of this a couple of years ago. We heard credible reports that businesses were being quietly encouraged to install at least one camera and a DVR. A link-up scheme, though not explicitly proposed at the time, obviously was the goal.

And now it's here.

The deterrent effect of video surveillance is negligible. It serves safety and security primarily by facilitating identification of bad actors after they've committed bad acts -- no one should harbor the illusion that a blanket of video monitoring somehow makes us safer.

It doesn't.

Anyone who wants to waste time opposing Ohio's plan or trying to block its implementation should know that the civil-liberties ship sailed years ago. Those of us who surf the Internet or use mobile phones, swipe credit cards, subscribe to magazines or visit the ER already volunteer our personal information to the State.

No matter what you call it -- Big Brother, Nanny State or New World Order -- it's real, inescapable and here to stay. As I said yesterday, the best we can do is be aware of it and act accordingly.

Gameday notes

When the Bobcats of Ohio University stepped out of the MAC and into The 'Shoe yesterday, no one gave them a chance to beat The Ohio State University -- and no one should've.

The Buckeyes' offense clicked and the defense smothered everything that Ohio U. tried to do. (Dig the photo showing seven Silver Bullets on the ball.) OSU was up 27-0 after one quarter and 34-0 by halftime. The final score was a merciful 43-7.

Since falling 7-6 to Oberlin in 1921, Ohio State is 41-0-1 against in-state football competition. (Wooster managed a 7-7 tie in 1924.) A few opponents have come close -- Ohio U. in 2008 and Cincinnati in 2002 -- but this wasn't to be the year for an upset.

* * *
Best game-day slogan, seen on the back of a t-shirt:

"I may cheer for the Buckeyes, but I drink like a Bobcat."

An inside joke, playing off of Ohio U.'s reputation as a party school.

* * *
After the season-opener against Marshall I commented on the level of security around Ohio Stadium, noting specifically the "roll-through checkpoints" we observed. This week Mrs. KintlaLake discreetly snapped a couple of photos as we passed through a chicane on Woody Hayes Drive, in the middle of the bridge over the Olentangy River.


Notice the Ohio State Highway Patrol SRT trooper with the dog, posted just prior to where vehicles enter the checkpoint.

The white delivery van in front of us was ordered to pull to the side and was swept individually.

Looking back toward the security chicane reveals how truly tight it is. The magnified perspective shows that we were the second-to-last in our six-vehicle group to clear scrutiny. At the intersection in the distance, several hundred yards west, traffic is stopped awaiting officers' instructions to proceed toward the checkpoint.

I'm careful, of course, not to post a lot about the hows and wheres of game-day security. We respect the integrity of the effort, as well as the men and women behind it.

A friend of ours has command responsibility for much of this deployment -- my wife and I spent a half-hour chatting with him yesterday morning, actually -- and we're privy to details that most folks will never know.

Suffice it to say that some of those details would curl your hair.

Where were you on 9/11?

No, not in 2001 -- I'm talking about last Saturday, on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Ok, I'll go first.

Where I was
As you might expect, on a football Saturday I spent my daylight hours in and around Ohio Stadium for the game with Miami.

Buckeye Nation is the heart of the Heartland and we have our priorities. Before the teams strapped on their helmets and drew first blood, we paid reverent tribute to the occasion.


The Ohio State University Marching Band unfurled a big American flag on the field and played "America." After a moment of silence -- observed by all but the classless and poorly self-policed Miami fans, who wouldn't shut up -- the National Anthem was performed by Columbus' own Rascal Flatts.

It was a stirring rendition and a significant break from tradition. As I said here two-and-a-half years ago, when it comes to the "Star Spangled Banner" I have a problem with performances:

"The national anthem is our national anthem -- it should be joined and sung by The People, not performed for The People. The People should celebrate -- insist on celebrating -- the privilege of honoring our freedom in unison."

I love Rascal Flatts and they did a spectacular job, but let's not make a habit of this, ok?

Toward the end of the first half, the public-address announcer directed our attention to the South end zone and introduced first-responders from throughout Ohio, men and women who serve us every day. Then, before TBDBITL took the field for its halftime show, another group was honored -- FDNY firefighters and paramedics, NYPD officers and other first-responders who bear the physical and emotional scars of Ground Zero.

Last to be introduced: David and Peggy Beamer, parents of the late Todd Beamer. Todd spoke the words, "Let's roll!" on United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11.

More than 105,000, tears dimming our eyes, roared for our heroes.

Mrs. KintlaLake and I left the stadium at that point, piled into the truck and drove 130 miles northeast for my 35th high-school reunion. It was our second such trip in 24 hours -- we'd joined a smaller group of my classmates on Friday night for a tailgate party.

This wasn't any sort of 9/11 commemoration, certainly, simply a gathering of aging men and women who remember being children together. We reacquainted and reminisced, laughed and cried, poked and prodded and pretended we aren't getting older.


We're the sons and daughters of dirt farmers, steel workers, meat cutters and firefighters, so we didn't reunite in a fancy hotel ballroom for a seven-course gourmet meal. We came together in a picnic pavilion (a big garage, really) to feast on fried chicken, take-out pizza, grocery-store cookies and cheap beer in 12-ounce cans.

Returning to my old stompin' grounds and seeing the faces of childhood friends -- coming home -- was the right thing to do, putting a perfect cap on my September 11th.

Where I wasn't
I didn't travel to Anchorage, Alaska for Sarah Palin's fundraiser featuring her "buddy" Glenn Beck.


Maybe you think it's ok for public figures to exploit 9/11 to line their pockets -- I don't. The only people who deserve less respect than Palin and Beck are the simple-minded groupies who paid a minimum of $73.75 -- that's $3.75 more than a ticket for OSU-Miami, if you're keeping score at home -- and as much as $225 to see the carnival act in-person.

They're the same people who see these clowns as "thought leaders." I have a question, though -- is "thought leader" the same thing as "attention whore"?

Of course not -- the latter is closer to the truth. And after their self-serving Anchorage gig, maybe we should simplify matters and just call Palin and Beck what they are...