Osama Unit Shut Down

Remember the guy who killed nearly 3,000 Americans? The one Bush said we'd get dead or alive? Bush shut down the CIA unit charged with getting him some time last year and didn't bother to tell you about it.

I heard a long story on NPR about it this morning but they never mentioned the one reason Bin Laden hasn't been captured: It isn't in the interests of the Bush Administration. Sure, if they really know where he is, he'll be trotted out some time in mid-to late October to try to win some points for the bad guys but as long as he's out there, the Bushies have a poster child for their interminable War on Tactic. Were Bin Laden captured, there could be an outcry for us to declare victory in the War on Terror (TM) and strip the Shrub of his greenery, sorry, "wartime President" status. He might then even have to start obeying laws and respecting minor things such as the Constitution and treaty.

Tomorrow is Independence Day. I'm tempted to fly my flag upside down, showing the distress of a lover of our country. I respect the flag, as does every military man. I revere the Constitution. Without the Constitution, the flag is a dishcloth, a bad rug, lining for a pet bed, it's a meaningless piece of cloth. Without statesmen to support the Constitution, it becomes a useless piece of paper, to quote a certain very unstatesmanlike political leader (it's parchment, Mr. Bush, not paper). Without an informed citizenry to elect statesmen rather than cheap politicians (current President, Congress, Supreme Court and most of state and local government of both parties being members of the latter), all we get is cheap political posturing about non-issues such as gay marriage, flag burning, vague threats against the First Amendment and other meaningless drivel designed to inflame the base rather than solve problems. Without an effective press, citizens can't be informed, instead will know everything there is to know about insignificant entertainment and little about our Government.

It's instructive to realize that Civics is not a required subject in most school districts.

So my Fourth of July wish for the United States is for a press that realizes its job is to inform, not to pander to the Administration or to hide facts from us because they may be inconvenient to some. I hope the Press wakes up and realizes its job is objectivity, not balance, and leaves balance to slanted infotainment broadcasters such as Fox News. I pray for more articles such as the New York Times's revelation of the Government's unwarranted "follow the money" spying and I pray they publish them sooner rather than later. I pray for what Jefferson prayed for, the press. And I pray for more stories about the Osama unit's closing, just a bit more punctually, please.