| Response: Hello from first-timer
Posted By: Greg Bear - 06/07/2006 12:38:58 PM
Alas, extreme elements in any social group are usually the ones who initiate and often direct the discourse. For every idea there is an opposition idea, which is how society and politics works--no matter how sane the idea, a substantial group will oppose it, and that's actually quite healthy--sometimes even "sane" ideas turn out to be ill-conceived. When I go to the media for news, I try to catch many different reports on different networks and compare them with newspapers and magazines. Reading between the lines is a difficult art, but a necessary one--and jumping to conclusions, particularly with something as serious as the Haditha killings, is indeed dangerous.
But we all do it. It can take years for the whole truth to come out. In the meantime, we're all ignorant, angry, and frustrated.
Those of us who have tended in recent decades to vote Democrat or independent have noted for some time that spokespeople and many politicians on the right can dish out the vile epithets and the insults and the simplifications, but they can't take it. Think John McCain's little black baby in Georgia--a phone tree atrocity dreamed up by Bush operatives against a true conservative and war hero. Think Swift Boat. Think Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. Think the scotched attempt to attack John Murtha. How many vilifications of "liberals" and Democrats--from Rove, O'Reilly or Limbaugh, or, God forbid, Coulter--can we accept before someone fires back?
In truth, the pundits and broadcasters and opinion shapers on the right behave like bullies with a slightly guilty conscience--but that bite of conscience only makes them more vicious. These guys aren't even populists in the mold of the racist Father Coughlin or Joe Pine--they're just by and large corrupt hypocrites with no real philosophy other than self-aggrandizement. They drag down honorable conservatism more with every day of their blather. They're verbal thugs.
They are, however, more interesting to listen to than Al Franken. Sigh.
But none of them can hold a candle to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert--who may single-handedly be winning this culture war through laughter. As far as I know, far-right motor-mouths do indignation and outrage beautifully--but they have absolutely no sense of humor. Comedy eludes them. So thank god for DAILY SHOW and COLBERT REPORT. (And strangely, these shows analyse many news stories with a biting wit and insight that seems sorely lacking on mainstream news shows. DAILY SHOW was the first to go back and check Bush's introduction to his first CIA director, Porter Goss--finding it to be word for word the same as his introduction to Michael Hayden. Wow.)
DARWIN'S RADIO and DARWIN'S CHILDREN are not so much diatribes as accurate descriptions of how Washington works in a crisis--and they have been lauded as such by scientists and insiders who know the process. Before publication, I fact-checked these books by running them past experts with major experience in epidemiology and the politics of science--and in 2000, 2001, and 2002, attended government funded conferences in Washington DC and elsewhere that raised the few hairs left on my head. I wove what I heard about science and politics into DARWIN'S CHILDREN--facts and observations that came from serious bipartisan groups.
John, smart and reasonable as you are, you're still not going back to look at my book--so I'll reprint that most controversial chapter. Questions from the teacher (supply answers with actual quotes from the text!): What party does the President, who eventually comes around, belong to? What groups does the Democratic congressman reach out to in his effort to roll back government intrusions into our private lives?
Here's the entire controversial chapter. Scientists, bureaucrats, Democrats, the New York Times, Republicans, nearly everybody takes their licks. So far, only staunch Republicans have complained about this chapter. Interesting, hm?
Here it is:
?We?ve been over and over this,? Dick Gianelli told Mitch, dropping a stack of scientific reprints on the coffee table between them. The news was not good.
Gianelli was short and round and his usually pale face was now a dangerous red. ?We?ve been reading everything you sent us ever since the congressman was elected. But they have twice as many experts, and they send twice as many papers. We?re drowning in papers, Mitch! And the language.? He thumped the stack. ?Can?t your people, all the biologists, just write to be understood? Don?t they realize how important it is to get the word out to everybody??
Mitch let his hands drop by his sides. ?They?re not my people, Dick. My people are archaeologists. They tend to write sparkling prose.?
Gianelli laughed, stood up from the couch and shook out his arms, then tipped a finger under his tight collar, as if letting out steam. His office was part of the suite assigned to Representative Dale Wickham, D., Virginia, whom he had faithfully served as director of public science for two of the toughest terms in U.S. history. The door to Wickham?s office was closed. He was on the Hill today.
?The congressman has made his views clear for years now. Your colleagues, scientists all, have hopped on the gravy train. They?ve joined up with NIH and CDC and Emergency Action, and they pay their visits mostly across the aisle. Wilson at FEMA and Doyle at DOJ have undercut us every step of the way, squirming like puppies to get their funding treats. Opposing them is like standing outside in a hail of cannonballs.?
?So what can I take home with me?? Mitch asked. ?To cheer up the missus. Any good news??
Gianelli shrugged. Mitch liked Gianelli but doubted he would live to see fifty. Gianelli had all the markers: pear shape, excessive girth, ghostly skin, thinning black hair, creased earlobes. He knew it, too. He worked hard and cared too much and swallowed his disappointments. A good man in a bad time. ?We got caught in a medical bear trap,? he said. ?We?ve never been prepared. Our best model for an epidemic was military response. So now we?ve had ten years of Emergency Action. We?ve practically signed away our country to Beltway bureaucrats with military and law enforcement training. Mark Augustine?s crew, Mitch. We?ve given them almost absolute authority.?
?I don?t think I?m capable of understanding how those people think,? Mitch said.
?I thought I did, once,? Gianelli said. ?We tried to build a coalition. The congressman roped in Christian groups, the NRA, conspiracy nuts, flag burners and flag lovers, anybody who?s ever expressed a shred of suspicion about the guv?ment. We?ve gone hat in hand to every decent judge, every civil libertarian still above ground, literally and figuratively. We?ve been checked every step of the way. It was made very clear to the congressman that if he threw up any more dust, he, personally, all on his lonesome, could force the president to declare martial law.?
?What?s the difference, Dick?? Mitch asked. ?They?ve suspended habeas corpus.?
?For a special class, Mitch.?
?My daughter,? Mitch growled.
Gianelli nodded. ?Civil courts still operate, though under special guidelines. Nothing much has changed for the frightened average citizen, who?s kind of fuzzy about civil rights anyway. When Mark Augustine put together Emergency Action, he wove a tight little piece of legislative fabric. He made sure every agency ever involved in managing disease and preparing for natural disaster had a piece of the pie?and a very smelly pie it is. We?ve created a new and vulnerable underclass, with fewer civil protections than any since slavery. This sort of stuff attracts the real sharks, Mitch. The monsters.?
?All they have are hatred and fear.?
?In this town, that?s a full house,? Gianelli said. ?Washington eats truth and shits spin.? He stood. ?We can?t challenge Emergency Action. Not this session. They?re stronger than ever. Maybe next year.?
Mitch watched Gianelli pace a circuit of the room. ?I can?t wait that long. Riverside, Dick.?
Gianelli folded his hands. He would not meet Mitch?s eyes.
?The mob torched one of Augustine?s goddamned camps,? Mitch said. ?They burned the children in their barracks. They poured gasoline around the pilings and lit them up. The guards just stood back and watched. Two hundred kids roasted to death. Kids just like my daughter.?
Gianelli put on a mask of public sympathy, but underneath it, Mitch could see the real pain.
?There haven?t even been arrests,? he added.
?You can?t arrest a city, Mitch. Even the New York Times calls them virus children now. Everyone?s scared.?
?There hasn?t been a case of Shiver in ten years. It was a fluke, Dick. An excuse for some people to trample on everything this country has ever stood for.?
Gianelli squinted at Mitch but did not challenge this appraisal. ?There isn?t much more the congressman can do,? he said.
?I don?t believe that.?
Gianelli reached into his desk drawer and took out a bottle of Tums. ?Everyone around here has fire in the belly. I have heartburn.?
?Give me something to take home, Dick. Please. We need hope,? Mitch said.
?Show me your hands, Mitch.?
Mitch held up his hands. The calluses had faded, but they were still there. Gianelli held his own hands beside Mitch?s. They were smooth and pink. ?Want to really learn how to suck eggs, from an old hound dog? I?ve spent ten years with Wickham. He?s the smartest hound there is, but he?s up against a bad lot. The Republicans are the country?s pit bulls, Mitch. Barking in the night, all night, every night, right or wrong, and savaging their enemies without mercy. They claim to represent plain folks, but they represent those who vote, when they vote at all, on pocketbooks and fear and gut instinct. They control the House and the Senate, they stacked the court the last three terms, their man is in the White House, and bless them, they speak with one voice, Mitch. The president is dug in. But you know what the congressman thinks? He thinks the president doesn?t want Emergency Action to be his legacy. Eventually, maybe we can do something with that.? Gianelli?s voice dropped very low, as if he were about to blaspheme in the temple. ?But not now. The Democrats can?t even hold a bake sale without arguing. We?re weak and getting weaker.?
He held out his hand. ?The congressman will be back any minute. Mitch, you look like you haven?t slept in weeks.?
Mitch shrugged. ?I lie awake listening for trucks. I hate being so far from Kaye and Stella.?
?How far??
Mitch looked up from under his solid line of eyebrow and shook his head.
?Right,? Gianelli said. ?Sorry.?
End chapter.
Note the comment about the New York Times. The despairing comment about Democrats. Note Emergency Action, and compare with Homeland Security--which did not exist when I wrote DARWIN'S RADIO. Nor had 9-11 happened. Thereafter, the parallels with my novels are pretty remarkable.
Which led me in part to write QUANTICO, from the perspective of professional law enforcement--conservatives--and try to figure out where we'll be in ten years, given current trends. QUANTICO predicts we'll have a conservative administration for at least one more term after Bush.
But enough said.
Good question about Shevite porn. No doubt they'd all have to wear veils...and dark eye glasses! But how do you stop those scent glands?
What's the situation like where you are? You guys have been handed one of the toughest jobs in modern American history, and whatever the news stories are, we're all interested in personal observations and experience.
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