6-17-02, Danny McBride
Home of the Land, Brave of the Free
By Danny McBride
IPS Features
Or is it the Homeland of the free, and zee Fatherland of der Brave New World Order. And by the way that is not the order of fries on the side.
So George W Bush, soon to be known as “Fearless Leader” rather than President, has announced to the country his plans for a new cabinet level position: Director of Homeland Security. George Orwell would have loved the double-speak.
Just in case you missed the speech, the President is about to pitch Congress on a great plan to reorganize many Government Agencies into a new assortment of Government Agencies, only they are pretty much the same ones we already have, but they will now have to report to Tom Ridge. But, you ask, don’t they already do this? Yes they do. So what will change? Tom Ridge’s letterhead. His stationery will no longer say “Governor” (from his days in Pennsylvania). It will now say “Secretary”. And this will make us safer? Ahhh…not exactly. But it sounds better.
And it sounded so much like a shallow public relations stunt coming as it did on the same day that FBI agent Coleen Rowley was testifying on Capitol Hill about all the FBI bureaucracy that discouraged innovation and punished agents seeking to cut through layers of red tape- -gatekeepers, as it were, that kept relevant information from reaching a level where significant action could be taken.
And FBI Director Robert “Three Sticks” Mueller was up to testify as well. Of course Bob was there to allay the senators’ fears by telling them that past problems have now been fixed. We’ll see. (By the way, in case you didn’t know- -the nickname- -a derogative- -is because he is Robert Mueller “III”, and that just sounded a bit too stuffy to some of his underlings.)
Any other night the story told by Agent Rowley would have led the evening network news and the morning papers. But the President’s remarks were broadcast at an earlier hour than most Presidential speeches, early enough to be the lead story on the evening news in over half the country and, of course, bump Agent Rowley’s testimony under the fold.
I want to feel safe. I want to feel secure. But when the man in charge of all things nuclear cannot say the word properly, I am not reassured. (He says “nuke-u-lar”.) Oh I suppose if he weren’t so jet-lagged he might be able to conquer this third-grade word. (Is he still jet-lagged? He said he was last week.) I guess he just has a block against it, subliminally anyway.
In explaining which agencies would switch from the auspices of, say, the Justice Department, or the Department of Transportation, or whatever, it sounded as if the President were laying out the rules for a brand new board game: “Homeland”- -sort of like “Candyland”- -a child’s first board game- -only deadlier. Okay- - Take the Coast Guard from square one, roll the dice, and- -bingo!! Land on a new agency. Take the INS and - - oh- - an illegal immigrant got through - -go back thee spaces.
Twenty-two agencies in all will be reassigned from under whatever umbrella they’re under now, and all lumped together under the Department of Homeland Security. Missing from the list, which also includes the Secret Service, the Border Patrol and The Customs Service, are the FBI and the CIA, the two agencies most responsible for our homeland security up to now, and the two which have failed the worst. Just ask them- -they’ll tell you it was the other one’s fault.
In the speech, Bush referred to the United States several times as “our homeland”, as if to slam home the term chosen for this enterprise. But it sounded eerily unnatural. It sounded like speeches praising “Der Vaterland” from a time when the last century’s, and perhaps the worst ever, dictator arose to enslave the world.
Of course George W would never be in a beer hall in Munich- -he quit drinking- -but it should always be remembered that tyrants are most often elected. Then, with the help of a cowering populace afraid to say “no”, and laws restricting freedoms in place for the wrong reasons, they are able to take and wield power in a totalitarian way.
Now, I don’t expect George W Bush to be our first dictator- -but if some of the proposed changes are put into place- -homeland surveillance of anybody- -not just in a department store dressing room for shoplifters, Winona, but anybody anywhere- -we invite that very possibility a few years down the line.
Do you remember Vercingetorix? He was the guy Julius Caesar conquered in 52 BC that enabled Jools to take over Rome, from Republic to Empire. Having vanquished “Verc” and his army (what else do you suppose his friends called him?--assuming he had any friends)- -Caesar was free to depose Pompey, dissolve the triumvirate, and grab the throne for himself. Rome was truly the last great world power before US. And even the middle-sized ones have all gone the same route- -from free society to totalitarian state.
Changing the laws to suit John Ashcroft is a dangerous proposal. Oh, he’s not going to do anything except annoy us with his Gospel music. But laws once on the books have a way of remaining, and some are bound to be later used to justify government acts which would have once been unthinkable.
Before you jump on the homeland bandwagon- -think!
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts said it best: “It’s like rearranging the deck chairs on The Titanic”. A prophetic statement since the President said in his speech “America is leading the civilized world in a titanic struggle against terror”.
Oh, I hope not. Lines like that really give me a sinking feeling.
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