PS re FISC

The NYT reported that the secret court received 1800 requests for warrants last year -- and issued 1800 warrants, some very sweeping dragnets not focused on a particular event or suspect.  Let's see: a year might be 50 weeks, a work-week five days, so 250 days; 1800 warrants, that's 7.2 per day, or nearly one per hour.  Quite a pace for careful jurisprudence by this secret court of eleven secret jurists. Feel safer?

McClatchy has brought a second item to light.  After young Spc. Manning dumped docs to WikiLeaks, Obama, in October of 2011, signed an Executive Order making it an offense for government employees not to inform on co-workers who display suspicious attitudes or behavior, employees who later come under investigation.  Called "Early Warning" or some such innocuous, positive name -- remind one of Stasi by chance?  No, perish the thought; our elected officials are so much more trustworthy than that, and it's for our own good, all in pursuit of security, right, right, right-oh, on we go!

Snowden Isn't the Story....

This Snowden kid has had me tongue-tied; I haven't blogged for a month because people keep asking me what I think, where I come out -- traitor or hero?  It's taken me time to take my eye off Snowden and look at the real story.

A novelist coming up with this plot would be laughed out of his editor's office.  Yet here is Snowden, on ice in Moscow, passport-less, cooling his heels in the Sheremetyevo Novotel's in-transit wing -- as deep in a freezer as the journalists' cell phones he demanded be checked into his hotel room refrigerator back in Hong Kong.  Bizarre....  No, he hasn't entered the Russian border their foreign secretary sanctimoniously assures us.  But you can bet his computers and thumb drives have crossed many a border -- seized. copied and cracked by China's MSB and Russia's SVR, FSB and FSO.

OK, so traitor or hero?

                                                                                                                        

Clearly, he is a traitor to his oaths, to his employers and their trust.  And among his employers to whom he swore oaths were the NSA and the CIA.  In releasing information about snooping on foreign governments -- friend and foe -- he has betrayed US government secrets.  His grand motive, he alleges, is to alert the US public to illegal snooping on us -- but that is quite different from his information on international snooping, which is merely unethical, immoral, embarrassing, unwise, self-damaging and stupid -- but not, unfortunately, illegal.  Now we learn that his real job was not system administrator but infrastructure analyst -- searching for ways to penetrate secure systems for intelligence gathering and, potentially, sabotage.  This, too, he has revealed.  So, yes, he is prima facie a traitor.  And his treachery has hurt the US -- with adversaries, allies and those on the sidelines simply keen on indulging their schadenfreude at our expense.

Hero?  Hardly.  Nothing heroic about this self-absorbed computer geek anointing himself as defender of truth.  His allegations about his plans, his job history, his course work at Johns Hopkins, his adoption of Buddhism in Japan while not liking their culture, running off to Hong Kong because of their dedication to liberty??? What kind of naif is this? Facebooking about his sexual prowess; unable to finish high school or community college; claiming he broke his leg in special forces training in the Army Reserve (there isn't such a thing -- there are two National Guard special forces units, otherwise the only five others are regular Army.)   No, no hero is this Snowden.

What of redemption?  

Well, perhaps he has performed a public service if -- a big if -- the public ire is finally aroused to demand a wholesale change, a dismantling of the intelligence-contractor-congressional complex.  Whatever happens to Snowden will be punishment -- whether put on trial here, eking out a living in Ecuador, accepting asylum in Russia, being a pawn in the game of let's embarrass the United States.  Whatever happens to Snowden is not the story.

The story is how our government has prostituted its values in the name of security.   Abraham Lincoln said "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."  The intelligence-contractor-congressional system of circular authorizations bolstered by sweeping warrants granted by a secret judiciary is no different than the star chamber justice of Tudor England.  That was finally overturned in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and we reiterated our rejection  of such process in 1789.

I could rant several more pages about the intelligence swamp we are hip deep in: about the contractors who hire geeks like Snowden despite a crazy personal and professional history, and pay him twice what a comparable civil service post can pay; about 850,000 people or more with top secret clearance, of whom 1 in 3 work for for-profit contractors rather than for the taxpayer; about Defense Secretary Gates testifying that  "I can't get a number on how many contractors work for the Office of the Secretary of Defense;" about the training of CIA spies being contracted out to a for-profit company.  But I won't indulge ....

Suffice to say that information empowers.  And many believe that withholding information empowers absolutely, despite that information is fungible and eventually -- always -- leaks.  Yes power corrupts, but more to the point, John Adams warned that “Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak."  We have seen it over and over -- the beguiling quality of "secrets" whether wielded by J. Edgar Hoover tempting the Kennedys, or IRS files tempting Johnson, or CIA tempting Nixon, and on and on.  The Frank Church hearings in 1976 restored some constraint on the Executive Branch, but it leaked away again in Iran Contra under Reagan, and again after 9/11 under Bush, Cheney and Obama.  I'm shocked to list Obama in that set but the hubris is the same.  In 2004, we learned of domestic spying; in 2010, The Washington Post explored the runaway intelligence establishment.  Haven't we come to see that these intelligence czars are just as self-anointed as Snowden, thinking alike that they know what's best for us?  When will we learn to distrust any and all of them?  They don't have souls any greater than yours and mine.

The American public accepts this pernicious intrusion because they've been sold a "War on Terror."  There's the root of the problem:  the paradigm of war, that sense of imminent danger which allows those empowered by information to trade us "security" in return for giving up our rights.  But they didn't forestall the Boston Marathon bombers or the guy who tried to blow up Times Square or the guy wearing explosive jockey shorts.  There is no such thing as "security."  And now, the administrations' (plural) lies and wholesale snooping are naked before us.  James Madison wrote "no nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare" but that's what we've been sold -- and we have been losing our freedom.  Talk to those denied airline flights with neither explanation nor recourse.  Madison was talking about the danger of concentrating power in the executive long before NSA, CIA, DIA and a hundred other snoop bureaucracies were even dreamed of.

  

Snowden isn't the story.  The story is we are overdue for a sweeping change in what rights we cede to our government and how it accounts for its protection of our rights and its constraint of them.  Now is the time to begin writing that story....

2ndtermitis

Obama has caught 2ndtermitis, that so-often self-inflicted malady that has derailed every 20th Century US President and his administration who were rewarded with a second term.  The only ways to avoid it were not to seek or fail to win a second term.  Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge,Truman and Johnson chose not to seek. Roosevelt and Coolidge went out on a high, Truman and Johnson were driven out on an exhausted low. Harding and Kennedy died.  The re-election bids of Taft, Hoover, Ford, Carter, and Bush 41 were rejected.  Otherwise, the record is daunting:

• Wilson: League of Nations rejection; stroke
• Roosevelt:  Supreme Court packing, AFL/CIO divorce
• Eisenhower:  Sherman Adams' mink, Gary Power's U2, Little Rock
• Nixon:  Archibald Cox, Watergate tapes, Cambodia
• Reagan:  Irangate
• Clinton:  Lewinsky, impeachment
• Bush:  Valerie Plame, waterboarding

You wonder that any President chooses to run for a second term. Their hair turns white; wrinkles deepen; hopes and plans are highjacked by hubris, fate, embittered opposition, and/or stupid and venal subordinates.  

Guys: if it ain't over in four, declare victory, retire, and do good deeds with your well-earned fame.

What's On Our Minds? or Train Wreck; Avert Your Eyes!

The New York Times on-line has a feature I find quite revealing: their ten Most E-Mailed items.  So here we are, faced with serious problems in economic recovery, debt management, education, infrastructure and so on.  Meanwhile, the paper is full of Justice Dept. snoops, IRS snoops, Benghazi cover-ups, sectarian violence and Israeli raids on Syria.  And the public's confidence in our political leaders is in free-fall.

Today's ten Most E-Mailed ?
1. Germs in our gut
2. Salt in the diet
3. Pastrami
4. The 7 minute workout
5. Mastectomy
6. How to fry chicken
7. Getting kids into college
8. Horses on the farm
9. Yoga for middle age
and
10.  Moving to Latin America or the Caribbean

The order changes all the time, but doesn't this tell us our fellow citizens -- at least my fellow NYT readers  -- just can't deal with and/or don't want to share reality? Train wreck: avert your eyes!
  

Mother's Day -- Adult Sons' Style

Saturday eve, May 11, voice mail: "Mom, could you come over and baby-sit tomorrow so we can go furniture shopping?"

Sunday morning, May 12, cell phone text message: "Fletch, tell Mom Happy Mothers Day and that I will call her later."

Yes, I told her, and told her as well that she was and is a terrific Mom....

How Do We Look From Here?

France has been wonderful to us these past few weeks.  The Dordogne's beauty and fare beguiled and Paris, despite crowds and unseasonably cool weather, charms as always.  Ann's new interest in the history of Western Civ has been gratified at every turn.

After three weeks of getting our news via web from the NYT and Seattle Times; from TV via BBC, Sky, France Anglais, and Al Jazeera (which maintains the most consistent focus on news); and from what we can make of headlines (my three years of French half-a-century ago long since failed me) clear impressions form.

First, all the western democracies are in reactive mode, and overwhelmingly reacting to internal strains rather than externalities. While Xi and Putin are each looking outward, toward consolidating their natural hegemonies, the US is only partially looking out, and that in reaction to mid-east turmoils, North Pacific tensions, and entanglement in Afghanistan. But the Europeans? Entirely inward (with exception of Hollande's transparent and feeble attempt to distract the French public by mis-adventure in Mali, which only underscored France's weakness.) In light of Europe's unemployment highs (more than half-again as high as in the States, and in Southern Europe, higher than levels of the Great Depression,) persistent banking crises, and the public's eroding confidence in the concept of a United Europe, the US doesn't look so bad. But none of the Western Democracies is proactively addressing its challenges and opportunities.


Second, our Boston tragedy evokes sympathy but also a slight schadenfreude since terrorists have struck here more often and usually with larger body counts, not to mention the daily horrifics in the mid-East and Pakistan. The Europeans follow our gun debate with the same morbid, fascinated revulsion one indulges in at the county fair freak show. Our Congressional dysfunction doesn't merit much comment here, not given the political burlesque in Italy, rising  jingoism in many EU countries, bickering with Brussels, incessant second-guessing by shadow governments in Germany and the UK, and the steadily deteriorating Euro.

So, relatively, we don't look so bad but the point is that the unity and strength of Western democracies is thin gruel compared to what once was. With its self-inflicted wound of austerity, Europe is quietly becoming more and more dependent upon the strengths of the US economy and US military. One hears questions being raised at home about the equity and affordability of this dependency; whither goest NATO?

Whither goest France?  Deeply troubled, but still important.  Important for their gifts to the West: Lascaux; religious tolerance (finally, after horrific lessons of intolerance); The Enlightenment philosophers; the ideals of Egalite', Fraternite', Liberte'; esteem for artists, writers, musicians, dramatists; the romance of romance ... and wine, bread and cheese.  Important still, for they know wines, breads and cheeses.

A Political PS:

Is Europe's malaise a precursor for us? No, our economy, our demographics, our immigration will keep leading us out. But given that Obama has abandoned the fight to change the way Washington works (not that he ever launched it) and has given up on a democratic republic and embraced the funder republic, as "Lester" Lessig terms it, there is little promise of our soon becoming proactive. Congress' day-before-flying-home reversal of FAA cuts exemplifys the self-interest that drives our representatives.  Can we expect those who care more about their party than their country to rein in K St., reform campaign financing, address education and inequality, work to make health care real, or re-size and restrict the too-big-to-manage/too-big-to-fail banks? Not likely; not this bunch.

So, how do we look from here? Well, maybe better than Europe, but not so damn hot.

"...the goal of living is to grow..."

Spring is in the air. Daffodil spears are poking upwards, and last month marked the end of my presidency of Horizon House, a wonderful, two-year learning experience from which I received much more than I delivered.  (“President” might mislead, the role perhaps better described as chair of the board.)

For those who know it not, Horizon House is a vibrant community of 500-some retirees who live in a complex of apartments in downtown Seattle. The campus sits between a cluster of medical facilities known colloquially as “pill hill” and Seattle’s unique Freeway Park, a water and garden expanse built on a lid over the Interstate that cuts through the heart of our city. The site offers easy walking access, via that park, to the artistic, cultural, dining and shopping core of Seattle.

Horizon House is the leading retirement community in the region because of three coherent but individual strengths – its residents, its professional staff, and its board of trustees. Well, every retirement community has residents, staff and directors; what’s so special? What have ours taught me about success?

First, the residents: they are a highly diverse group, ethnically, socially, religiously, but who share two attitudes – a commitment to participate in urban life and a determination to age creatively and actively in community with others. They do not seek withdrawal in retirement. I learned from them the value of neighborhood, of organizing and aggressively seeking to have an impact on their surroundings, of assertively taking charge of their lives. Our residents have their own independent non-profit organization funded through their own operated thrift shop, and run over 60 programs and special interest clubs. They volunteer around town, and also do not hesitate to badger management to support their interests and civic concerns. I learned from them the truth of e e cumming’s

       in time of daffodils
       who know the goal of living is to grow
       forgetting why
       remember how

The result of that attitude? Our residents outlive actuarial expectations because of the stimulation of true community, because they are determined to extend their springs. And Horizon House, thereby, is given its distinctive character – a vibrancy and energy unlike any other community I have visited.

Staff: not-for-profit service organizations likely have a smaller pool of talents on which to draw than do for-profit enterprises but that does not mean lesser talents. The professionals who choose the not-for-profit world are among the best. I’ve been fortunate to have worked under two outstanding corporate leaders, Bill Marriott and Jim McFarland (of General Mills.) What made them great? Their ability to balance a vision of the long term with attention to immediate details; their upbeat delegation to and support of subordinates; their personal exemplification of the corporation’s values; and their willingness to admit mistakes and move on rather than fear admission as threat to their authority. Bob Anderson, CEO of Horizon House, shares those qualities. Though the scale of his operation is but a fraction of that of a Marriott or a General Mills, he stands beside them as an outstanding builder and leader of an enterprise. 

Trustees: I feel honored to have been chosen to chair such a superb board. How often I felt humbled in the face of the deep experience and talent gathered around the table. Of the 16 trustees (one is a non-voting representative of the UCC, out of which Horizon House was grown,) one third are residents. This is virtually unique among retirement communities, which typically allow none to serve or perhaps one to “represent” residents. Our resident trustees are chosen for their talents and experience; each is trustee first, resident second. It is a working board, the work done in committees made up of trustees, residents, non-resident experts from the community, staffed by relevant department heads. We strive for board productivity through use of advance briefs, consent agendas to minimize time for status reports, workshop-style discussion of anticipated issues, and rigorous self-assessment. The board is intentionally diverse in experience, perspective and talent; trustees are term limited. Horizon House has taught me the value of experimenting and continually seeking ways to make one’s board a substantive source of guidance and insight. The goal is to balance fiduciary, policy, and generative energy and attention.

Another element: mission. A not-for-profit enterprise can be truly mission-driven, undeterred and undistracted by demands of quarterly earnings goals, analysts’ opinions, stock price and the rest. From Horizon House, I have learned how to tie annual budgets, objectives and action plans directly to strategies aimed at long term goals that, in turn, are rooted in mission. This format for strategic planning and annual action is better than any I worked with in industry (where long range strategic plans too often gather dust on the shelf), Marriott and General Mills included. It’s a model, developed by former trustee Neil McReynolds, one that Jim Collins would applaud and one that should be applied to any enterprise, for or not-for profit.

One other learning: the babies of 1946 will turn 75 in 2021. And when that wave hits, the demand for aging services will begin to overwhelm their and our collective financial resources. In the next five years, this industry must challenge itself to develop new ways to facilitate healthy aging, to encourage community and combat isolation, and to cushion the social and financial impact of a huge increase in the elders of our tribe. At the same time, there will be "echo" growth in school-age population; we will face a competition for resources between education and aging.  In ten years, this will be the most pressing political and social issue our nation will be dealing with. The aging issue will be even more pressing than here in China, Europe, and Japan, potentially a most destabilizing force to be reckoned with.

PS: I have a great action slide showing age cohorts moving through the population in five year increments, 1950 - 2050, but Blogspot won't let me insert that format.  If you want it, I will e-mail it to you.