WEIGHT, WEIGHT, DON'T TELL ME

It seems to be a universal truth that supermarkets baggers always put all the heaviest items in the same bag. Maybe they’re trained that way. Maybe it’s a bagger joke. I’m not sure. They usually double bag it so it doesn’t fall apart, but it weighs a ton. Is there a pattern here? Other considerations aside – fragility, freezer items – common sense dictates that the heavy stuff should be spread out, so as to even up the weight of the bags. Am I over thinking this.

No, but seriously, in February I wrote the following:

Not hard to see why George W. Bush likes Alberto Gonzales so much. I got two things from watching the attorney general give un-sworn testimony before the Judiciary Committee: it is time for the Bush administration to start telling the truth, and it is seriously time for term limits.

It’s nice to trust our leaders, but we are a nation of laws. The best form of government, of course, would be a benevolent dictatorship; it’s great for cutting through red tape, getting things done to help people. You know, benevolent stuff. The problem is, those who make the best dictators are usually wanting in the benevolence department, and even if you could find a dictator who truly was benevolent, you could never be sure about the next one. That’s why laws are so important. I don’t think Mr. Gonzales got that memo.

If this spying operation is as small and narrow as Mr. Gonzales says it is – they’re calling it a terrorist surveillance program because their real gift isn’t for spying, it’s for labeling – why not go through the FISA courts? Gosh, I can’t think of a good reason. I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Sen. Feinstein on this one. She said the program is probably much bigger than they want us to know. Gees, Dianne, ya think? Well, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . . you know?

Mr. Gonzales says they only listen in on terrorist suspects, but he refuses to elaborate on how people get to be suspects. Could it be as simple as an angry neighbor passing an anonymous tip to Homeland Security, or would just having the name Mohamed be enough? If it would, what happens if we find ourselves in a conflict with Israel one day (this was in February, remember)? Would everyone named Goldstein be on the list? Would that future administration feel justified in rounding up all the Jews in the country, including those serving in the Senate? Impossible, you say? Ask a Japanese friend.

And why aren’t these “suspects” just arrested and charged? Is the NSA playing a high-stakes game of chicken, hoping to get more terrorists or more information before they strike again? That’s a pretty dangerous game, and not one that our intelligence community has proven itself very good at.

National security is important, of course, but our law requires judicial oversight, and being at war doesn’t change that. We are often at war. In fact, we are usually at war. The United States spent half the 20th century either actively at war or under threat of nuclear attack. I remember the “drop drills” in grade school. Besides, there can be no guarantee of security in a free country. Unfortunately, people are free to do evil things. Not very nice, I suppose, but you have to decide whether you want to live in a free country with a certain element of danger, or in a police state that is ever so much safer. Let’s see - I choose the free country.

Finally, the members of the Judiciary Committee look like a poster for term limits. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some of their signatures on the Declaration of Independence. One, six-year term is plenty for anyone. Public office should be a public service, not a lifetime guarantee.

So, that was in February, but it still seems right.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR