SamSaid!

NORMAN II

     During Desert Storm, we had Norman Schwartzkopf, “Stormin' Norman”, and what a hero he turned out to be. We couldn't have had a better symbol leading our troops. Now, in the Terrorism War, we have Norman Mineta  –  and what a contrast.

     Mr. Mineta has a good track record and is probably a nice guy  –  and he may very well be an able Administrator as Secretary of Transportation for George Bush. But he has a huge blind side. He is still living in the early 1940s when his parents were among the Japanese families (The Nisei) who were were relocated from our West Coast cities to detention camps east of the Sierras and the Cascades. Indeed it was a draconian measure undertaken by the Federal Government. With the blessed accuracy of 20:20 hindsight, all of the current do-gooder social critics and the world of academe roundly denounce the action taken by the governemt in the early days of WW II as a horrible black episode in our history. And Mr. Mineta points to that experience as proof positive of the evils of “racial profiling”. After all, if we won the war, it shouldn't have made a big difference. Ah, the wonders of 20:20 hindsight.

     So, nowadays, Norman Mineta steadfastly refuses to prolfile potential terrorists; instead we “random sample” airport travelers. And we, the public, are held hostage to his personal views.

     Not too many of us can go back to the days of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese envoys, Nomura and Kurusu, were in Washington conning the President and Secretary of State while the Japanese fleet was steaming toward Hawaii. It was an ultimate act of diplomatic treachery. Following the attack, our Paciific fleet was either destroyed or heavily damaged. Our main line of defense of the West Coast was gone. We didn't know where the Japanese fleet was located. We didn't know if an all out assault on the West Coast was imminent. The Phillipines were about to fall and the Japanese were on the move in East Asia. If we were not in a panic mode it was close to it. Then on top of that there was a large Japanese presence on the West Coast and we simply didn't know where their sympathies lay.   Thus FDR and his advisors decided that relocation of the West Coast Japanese was a prudent decision  —-  specifically in the defense and security of the country. At that time, it was not a highly controversial decision. From the perspective of mid 1942, the relocation decision made a lot of sense. Viewed from 2001, there is all kinds of room to second guess.

     We just returned from a vacation where we were joined by a couple from back East  –  both over 70. In their round trip, they were random searched 3 times, courtesy of computer selection. What a joke. What ever became of the basic police approach to pinpoint the likely suspects?? The terrorists must be laughing themselves silly while we zero in on blond Norwegians and 80 year old grandmothers.

     Charles Krauthammer, the distinguished essayist for Time Magazine got it right in the 3/18/02 issue ”The case for proliling”. Here is what he said.”Airport security is not permitted to “racially” profile, but every passenger  –  white or black, male or female, Muslim or Christian,   –  does.We scan the waiting room, scrutinizing other passengers not just for nervousness and shiftiness but also for the demographic characteristics of Al Qaeda. We do it privately. We do it quietly. But we do it. Airport officials, however, may not. This is crazy. So crazy that it is only a matter of time before the public finally demands that our first priority be real security, not political appearances  –  and puts an end to this charade.”

   Amen, Charles. Time to hit the road Norman  –  back to San Jose. I think a big dose of common sense is more appropriate than 50 year old 20:20 hindsight memories.

WHAT'S NEXT?

      For ordinary people, it is almost impossible to enter the mindset of Bin Laden, his fellow fanatics and murderous followers. Who in their right minds could fashion something as horrifying as the 9/11 bombings? But he and his henchmen did. So now, what is their next move.

     In some remote hideout they could be saying, “Look guys, we hurt them badly. Three out of four and we would have settled for one. They've come back and hurt us badly. Our communications are disrupted, they have cut off some of the money flow, our training bases are gone, and they've taken out a lot of our Al Qaeda guys. We are gonna have to back off and re-group, but we are not dead.  Sure we could set up a few car bombs and suicide guys in the USA, but 9/11 put us in the big leagues as far as Big Satan is concerned.  We have to think big. So, let's tell our guys to back off, get lost, stay invisible and “go to sleep”. Just tell them we will be in touch  –  and think about Oct-Nov.

     Right now, we've got them where we want them. They are thrashing about looking for 100% security at airports, bridges, train terminals etc. Spending gobs of money and causing all kinds of domestic problems. All we have to do is float a few rumors and they go ballistic. So let them chase ghosts and waste a lot of resources. In the meantime, let's just stay out of sight and wait.

     The chemical and bio stuff scares the wits out of people, but they are hard to handle and control. Our best big ticket is to nuke them. We have to use the time to get all of the stuff and make a big boomer. We'll make 9/11 look like a firecracker. That's the game plan. Let's go. Allah will lead us!!”

     Far fetched?  I don't think so. In the past, those with nuclear weapons were deterred by the retaliation aspect  -  to say nothing of the humanitarian concerns. But BL and his buddies are a different breed. They are already the walking dead and they could care less what happens in the aftermath. If they think Allah awaits them, why should they care about how they get there? We don't have much choice but to go after them in Afghanistan, The Phillipines etc., but while we dither over the Israelis and Palestinians, and chasing down remnants of the Taliban, I think they will quietly try to get a nuke with every intention to use it. Not a very pleasant prospect   —  and I hope our G-2 is up to the task!

THE CUTTHROAT

     Many Americans can recognize the handsome features of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. He is the handsome, grey-haired, distinguished, grandfatherly looking guy who gets his share of TV time as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Nice guy?  Not quite!

     After Turncoat Jeffords switched party affiliation last year, Leahy, a Demnocrat, became the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Among its duties, this Committee passes judgment on the Judicial Nominees offered by the President to fill vacancies in our Federal Courts. Almost a year ago, President Bush submitted a list of more than 90 nominees to fill at least that number of vacancies that now exist, and there is little doubt that the Federal Court dockets are overcrowded and the vacancies need to be filled.

     It is the entire Senate that has the “advise and consent” obligation when it comes to filling Federal Court vacancies, but the first step is to get past Mr Leahy's Committee. Thus far, Mr Leahy has deignd to allow hearings on 7 judge nominations over the past 6-8 months, saying that his Committee is too busy. And so the vacancies go unfilled. What Mr Leahy is really saying to the President is “if you give me a half dozen picks that I can pass along to my cronies, I'll schedules hearing for more of your nominees”. Otherwise, the Presidential nominees will continue to sit in limbo, the court vacancies will remain unfilled, and the court dockets will continue to be over crowded. Now I am not so naive as to ignore partisan politics, but I think there is an obligation to give the President's nominees a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committe and then vote them up or down in the full Senate. Our Judicial system should not be held hostage by the cutthroat tactics of Senator Leahy. But our dear Senator from Vermont defies the system through his control of the Committee agenda. He simply doesn't schedule hearings for any nominees. Thus, he stiff-arms the President.

     While George Bush is leading our Terrorism War effort and is grappling with other foreign and domestic issues, Senator Leahy is quietly stabbing him in the back  –  or should I say stabbing US in the back. When people get disgusted with our politicians or feel that our Federal Government simply isn't functioning as it should, they need to look no further than Senator Leahy and his kind. Don't let those patrician looks fool you. He is a Congessional cutthroat if there ever was one. But maybe I am too harsh. Maybe he is just a puppet bouncing at the end of the strings being pulled by his New England buddy Ted Kennedy  –  if that makes you feel any better!

     And by the way, while the media gets all excited about Enron, have you noticed any outrage about Mr Leahy and is treatment of our Judicial System??

LET'S ALL SYMPATHIZE

     Those poor Taliban guys on Guantanamo. Basking in that sunshine and balmy breezes (want to try Afghanistan in the winter?) Supported fully by our do-gooder left wingers who are concerned that they be treated in a humane way (whatever that is) . My heart bleeds for them. I wonder if it ever occurred to these citizens of super mercy that these guys cooped up in Gauntanamo have only one mission in life  –  to kill Americans. Kids, babies, old folks, women, soldiers, civilians  –  all of the above. Whoever gets in the way. They don't want our land, money or possessions. They just want to kill. Does it ever occur to our hand-wringers that these are not likely candidates for rehabilitation??

     Personally, I am not too concerned about their confort. My guess is that given the opportunity, the great majority of inmates at San Quentin and Pelican Bay (not exactly in the prison resort category) would say,  ”Send me to Guantanamo”. My concern is what we will do with them  – long range. Do we kill them all?  Lock them up for 50-100 years at untold expense? Or slap their wrists and let them go so they can ply their murderous trade again and again? The courts and military tribunals do not have the the long range solutions for people like these. So what do we do with them?? 

     Nowadays, my sympathy goes more in the directiion of  the time-honored military axiom, “Take no prisoners”.