Mea culpas

1

'We assess that Miranda is knowingly carrying material the release of which would endanger people's lives,' the document continued. 'Additionally the disclosure, or threat of disclosure, is designed to influence a government and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism . . .'*

Have you ever possessed a document or authored one which had as its purpose promoting a political or ideological cause? This is serious. Think back. Yes you have. No? How about checking the bookshelf. Got a book up there authored directly or indirectly, unfortunately unsigned, by an extraordinary person?

A document that could endanger people's lives? I know I wrote one or two. You too, I suspect, and that is all I need to do these days, suspect.

In the spirit of an early confession will earn some lenience, here are some recent examples--partial mea culpas--of the terrorism that I am, I suppose, guilty of. You don't have to search far. Quotes from this blog. They came from me and I confess I in that sense possess 'em.

I said what? "One thing that seems to work always is to beat anyone's sorry ass who doesn't agree with you or do what you say."

OK, I made an accusation: "Holding companies accountable has in the past seen decision makers in those companies and the regulatory agents they have worked with walk away from the messes they have had a direct hand in causing."

Oops, incriminating evidence: This year I proposed petition for "Obama and the administration to: provide foreign state officials in undeclared war zones real time locations of enemy combatants and warfare preparations."

Name calling, and so what? I called everyone I knew and didn't who were perpetrating the present craziness on this planet a "jihadist of any stripe".

I wonder if there will be an unexpected knock on my door soon. And just this wondering is a sign that an average person exposed to popular media these days and using just a bit of grey matter will legitimately know we have entered a new era of spookiness. Today we don't blame the Nazis but our "protectors of freedom".

2

I broke the resolution made some months ago and renewed just two months ago--not to read mainstream news. Moment of weakness. But now that I have done so and ranted on about something I found, I should take steps to remedy my own contribution to any misunderstandings in the above matters.

It is all about context. My sins and others you may find here on this blog demand that you read the words around them. I believe you will find my peccadilloes not even worthy of the word. Go ahead, read on. Prove me wrong.

Good call. A waste of time. Now the quote I started out with, do we need a context in this case? We do not. I have already addressed the matter of the content of what has been said--at the first level of comprehension. The second level is this.

Miranda. Miranda is a feminine given name of Latin origin, meaning "worthy of admiration" (per Wikipedia). And he is a partner in a same-sex relationship with someone who has been outspoken about matters in the public face such as Wikileaks yea or nay. Oh, the reverberations of associations and ironies. But that is not the best of it.

This guy, because he had in possession some words of a character that most everyone has read or said (see above), could disclose. And it is because he could disclose he was detained and labeled a terrorist.

We are all terrorists, and if anyone finds out what you are thinking or have on your bookshelf, hell has frozen over and we are doomed to a wasteland covered by the thickest ice in human society and relations that we have ever known, but often feared and glimpsed on the horizon.

Like the thought police and re-education camps and political correctness and all the rest of it, we are trying to live in homogeneous and simpler times. Funny thing is, they never were, in spite of Moses and his or his mentor's prohibitions against coveting, er immoral thoughts. Some are singing the same theme song these days we have already heard, but not all of us like that music and won't dance.

And now I do think someone is at the door. . . . Gotta stop reading the news.
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* See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/02/david-miranda-terrorism-glenn-greenwald-british_n_4199838.html