The Week That Was - 4-22-2012

There were three stories that garnered much of the media’s focus this week, yet the coverage of all three seemed to miss the more critical, central points in favor of demonstrating broadcast ignorance and pointless sensationalism.

To wit:

There was much coverage about the Secret Service agents and their conduct in advance of President Obama’s visit to Colombia. Their conduct, if as presented is true, will be dealt with under our laws and disciplined accordingly under those laws. There seemed to be no mention of two major points: these agents were not assigned to directly protect the president, and while their conduct, if true, was both reprehensible and beyond stupid, they did not directly put the life of the president at risk. There are indeed corollary possibilities to their conduct that held potential for the president’s safety, but the president’s safety is always at risk. There also seemed to be a historical lack of mention any anecdotal negative conduct exposure for the Secret Service, for which they should be applauded and not grouped with a few stupid agents in their ranks. The Secret Service agents assigned directly to the president are those who will jump in front of bullets to save the life of our president. The footage of President Reagan’s’ shooting is testament to that fact, and as a  people we should be grateful there is not more such footage and we should respect the work of the Secret Service and not make them the butt of Colombian prostitute jokes.

The highlight of the political theater of the absurd this week was watching the indignation of our elected officials during the hearings on the GSA squandering the taxpayers hard earned cash in order that they might have elaborate self-congratulatory parties. The feigned ignorance by those who have the fiduciary responsibilities under the United States Constitution would have been comical if not for the seriousness of the matter. The media went borderline apoplectic over the official from the GSA invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incriminations. The howls began almost immediately that by choosing to employ his constitutional protection he was crating a de facto confession.

It is of great concern that many of those entrusted with protecting and defending the Constitution apparently have no idea what it actually says:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation

What apparently was not understood by many in Congress and ignorantly overlooked by the mass media was that you may not selectively invoke your fifth amendment protection. It is, in summary, a one size fits all, use it or lose it proposition. There is nothing nefarious in protecting yourself; it is dangerous to presume otherwise. Ignorance of the law is never considered a viable defense in court and should not be tolerated in the court of national discourse.

The third newsworthy event should be perhaps of the greatest concern to the American people. There was much fanfare over the Shuttle Discovery making its final flight piggy backed upon a 747. It was heralded as a major event as the craft circled around Washington D.C., en route to its final home at the Smithsonian Museum. There was a dearth of commentary, however, that there is not currently a manned United States Space Program. This nation needs to hitch rides with other nations when a return to space is required. In an era when there is much blather about investing in education, it is troubling that while the United States spends more per student than any other nation on the planet, our math and science scores are not competitive with other leading nations.

Should not we as a nation re-invest in teaching our children the subjects they will need to lead us to the next frontier; such is the nature of securing the future for ourselves and our posterity.