The Man Who Pleads His Case First Seems To Be In The Right, Then His Opponent Comes And Puts Him To The Test ......
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I'd say that quote describes me fairly well. Believe it or not, it comes from the Bible, Proverbs 18:17 to be exact.Here's another quote for you:*"Is it possible or impossible to compare the experience of those who have suffered to those who have not suffered? Is it ever possible to warn anyone of oncoming danger?How many witnesses have come to your country, how many waves of immigration, all warning you of the same experiences and the same dangers? Yet these proud skyscrapers still stand, and you go on believing it will not happen here. Only when it happens to you will you know it's true."*Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, in a speech to the AFL-CIO in NYC 1975. You can find more of this speech and others in the book "Warning to the West".The reason I am showing this quote to you is because of the context in which some people invoke it. Richard A. Clarke will be my example tonite. But first a little background on these two men. I came to Solzhenitsyn by way of the book "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", after that "Gulag: Archipelago". I love Solzhenitsyn so much, that my first son Alex is named so because of him. For the sake of expedience I will copy an excerpt of the autobiography he gave to the Noble Prize organization shortly after taking the prize for Literature in the year 1970.
"I was arrested on the grounds of what the censorship had found during the years 1944-45 in my correspondence with a school friend, mainly because of certain disrespectful remarks about Stalin, although we referred to him in disguised terms. As a further basis for the 'charge', there were used the drafts of stories and reflections which had been found in my map case. These, however, were not sufficient for a 'prosecution', and in July 1945 I was 'sentenced' in my absence, in accordance with a procedure then frequently applied, after a resolution by the OSO (the Special Committee of the NKVD), to eight years in a detention camp (at that time this was considered a mild sentence).I served the first part of my sentence in several correctional work camps of mixed types (this kind of camp is described in the play, The Tenderfoot and the Tramp). In 1946, as a mathematician, I was transferred to the group of scientific research institutes of the MVD-MOB (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of State Security). I spent the middle period of my sentence in such 'SPECIAL PRISONS' (The First Circle). In 1950 I was sent to the newly established 'Special Camps' which were intended only for political prisoners. In such a camp in the town of Ekibastuz in Kazakhstan (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich), I worked as a miner, a bricklayer, and a foundryman. There I contracted a tumour which was operated on, but the condition was not cured (its character was not established until later on).One month after I had served the full term of my eight-year sentence, there came, without any new judgement and even without a 'resolution from the OSO', an administrative decision to the effect that I was not to be released but EXILED FOR LIFE to Kok-Terek (southern Kazakhstan). This measure was not directed specially against me, but was a very usual procedure at that time. I served this exile from March 1953 (on March 5th, when Stalin's death was made public, I was allowed for the first time to go out without an escort) until June 1956. Here my cancer had developed rapidly, and at the end of 1953, I was very near death. I was unable to eat, I could not sleep and was severely affected by the poisons from the tumour. However, I was able to go to a cancer clinic at Tashkent, where, during 1954, I was cured (The Cancer Ward, Right Hand). During all the years of exile, I taught mathematics and physics in a primary school and during my hard and lonely existence I wrote prose in secret (in the camp I could only write down poetry from memory). I managed, however, to keep what I had written, and to take it with me to the European part of the country, where, in the same way, I continued, as far as the outer world was concerned, to occupy myself with teaching and, in secret, to devote myself to writing, at first in the Vladimir district (Matryona's Farm) and afterwards in Ryazan.During all the years until 1961, not only was I convinced that I should never see a single line of mine in print in my lifetime, but, also, I scarcely dared allow any of my close acquaintances to read anything I had written because I feared that this would become known. Finally, at the age of 42, this secret authorship began to wear me down. The most difficult thing of all to bear was that I could not get my works judged by people with literary training. In 1961, after the 22nd Congress of the U.S.S.R. Communist Party and Tvardovsky's speech at this, I decided to emerge and to offer One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.Such an emergence seemed, then, to me, and not without reason, to be very risky because it might lead to the loss of my manuscripts, and to my own destruction. But, on that occasion, things turned out successfully, and after protracted efforts, A.T. Tvardovsky was able to print my novel one year later. The printing of my work was, however, stopped almost immediately and the authorities stopped both my plays and (in 1964) the novel, The First Circle, which, in 1965, was seized together with my papers from the past years. During these months it seemed to me that I had committed an unpardonable mistake by revealing my work prematurely and that because of this I should not be able to carry it to a conclusion.":http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1970/solzhenitsyn-autobio.html
Solzhenitsyn knew all to well the terrifying possibilities of a "police state". He managed to live through one of the worst in world history.
Richard A. Clark is a name you might remember hearing in the aftermath of 9/11. He made his way into a lot of discussions because he could say "I told you so."Beyond that, he is more famously remembered for being the only member of the Bush Administration who provided an apology to the family members of victims along with an acknowledgement of the government's failure.Now get this folks (pulled from "Wiki":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke );Clarke had written that on September 12, 2001, President Bush pulled him and a couple of aides aside and "testily" asked him to try to find evidence that Saddam Hussein was connected to the terrorist attacks. In response he wrote a report stating there was no evidence of Iraqi involvement and got it signed by all relevant agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the CIA. The paper was quickly returned by a deputy with a note saying "Please update and resubmit". After initially denying that such meeting and request between the President and Clarke took place, the White House later reversed its denial when others present backed Clarke's version of the events.I mean, what more do you want?By now, if you stayed with me through this incredibly long winded post, your probably asking yourself "Where is he going with this?"In an essay titled "Technological Terrorism" (published, 1980) Clarke invoked the above Solzhenitsyn quote to bolster his call for a 'crisis government' which suspends many civil liberties in the event of a national disaster. I think he was taking Solzhenitsyn out of context. Solzhenitsyn was referring to the ills of a growing "police state" and to a lesser extent the threat of Communism, not terrorism as we know it today. Clarke is a doom sayer. I can say that with confidence. His vision of a national police state in the event of a crisis has its valid points, however even Clarke says that an eventual return to normalcy is the best solution once the crisis is over.So, here we are, 6 years after the fact and what have we accomplished?
"I was arrested on the grounds of what the censorship had found during the years 1944-45 in my correspondence with a school friend, mainly because of certain disrespectful remarks about Stalin, although we referred to him in disguised terms. As a further basis for the 'charge', there were used the drafts of stories and reflections which had been found in my map case. These, however, were not sufficient for a 'prosecution', and in July 1945 I was 'sentenced' in my absence, in accordance with a procedure then frequently applied, after a resolution by the OSO (the Special Committee of the NKVD), to eight years in a detention camp (at that time this was considered a mild sentence).I served the first part of my sentence in several correctional work camps of mixed types (this kind of camp is described in the play, The Tenderfoot and the Tramp). In 1946, as a mathematician, I was transferred to the group of scientific research institutes of the MVD-MOB (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of State Security). I spent the middle period of my sentence in such 'SPECIAL PRISONS' (The First Circle). In 1950 I was sent to the newly established 'Special Camps' which were intended only for political prisoners. In such a camp in the town of Ekibastuz in Kazakhstan (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich), I worked as a miner, a bricklayer, and a foundryman. There I contracted a tumour which was operated on, but the condition was not cured (its character was not established until later on).One month after I had served the full term of my eight-year sentence, there came, without any new judgement and even without a 'resolution from the OSO', an administrative decision to the effect that I was not to be released but EXILED FOR LIFE to Kok-Terek (southern Kazakhstan). This measure was not directed specially against me, but was a very usual procedure at that time. I served this exile from March 1953 (on March 5th, when Stalin's death was made public, I was allowed for the first time to go out without an escort) until June 1956. Here my cancer had developed rapidly, and at the end of 1953, I was very near death. I was unable to eat, I could not sleep and was severely affected by the poisons from the tumour. However, I was able to go to a cancer clinic at Tashkent, where, during 1954, I was cured (The Cancer Ward, Right Hand). During all the years of exile, I taught mathematics and physics in a primary school and during my hard and lonely existence I wrote prose in secret (in the camp I could only write down poetry from memory). I managed, however, to keep what I had written, and to take it with me to the European part of the country, where, in the same way, I continued, as far as the outer world was concerned, to occupy myself with teaching and, in secret, to devote myself to writing, at first in the Vladimir district (Matryona's Farm) and afterwards in Ryazan.During all the years until 1961, not only was I convinced that I should never see a single line of mine in print in my lifetime, but, also, I scarcely dared allow any of my close acquaintances to read anything I had written because I feared that this would become known. Finally, at the age of 42, this secret authorship began to wear me down. The most difficult thing of all to bear was that I could not get my works judged by people with literary training. In 1961, after the 22nd Congress of the U.S.S.R. Communist Party and Tvardovsky's speech at this, I decided to emerge and to offer One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.Such an emergence seemed, then, to me, and not without reason, to be very risky because it might lead to the loss of my manuscripts, and to my own destruction. But, on that occasion, things turned out successfully, and after protracted efforts, A.T. Tvardovsky was able to print my novel one year later. The printing of my work was, however, stopped almost immediately and the authorities stopped both my plays and (in 1964) the novel, The First Circle, which, in 1965, was seized together with my papers from the past years. During these months it seemed to me that I had committed an unpardonable mistake by revealing my work prematurely and that because of this I should not be able to carry it to a conclusion.":http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1970/solzhenitsyn-autobio.html
Solzhenitsyn knew all to well the terrifying possibilities of a "police state". He managed to live through one of the worst in world history.
Richard A. Clark is a name you might remember hearing in the aftermath of 9/11. He made his way into a lot of discussions because he could say "I told you so."Beyond that, he is more famously remembered for being the only member of the Bush Administration who provided an apology to the family members of victims along with an acknowledgement of the government's failure.Now get this folks (pulled from "Wiki":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Clarke );Clarke had written that on September 12, 2001, President Bush pulled him and a couple of aides aside and "testily" asked him to try to find evidence that Saddam Hussein was connected to the terrorist attacks. In response he wrote a report stating there was no evidence of Iraqi involvement and got it signed by all relevant agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the CIA. The paper was quickly returned by a deputy with a note saying "Please update and resubmit". After initially denying that such meeting and request between the President and Clarke took place, the White House later reversed its denial when others present backed Clarke's version of the events.I mean, what more do you want?By now, if you stayed with me through this incredibly long winded post, your probably asking yourself "Where is he going with this?"In an essay titled "Technological Terrorism" (published, 1980) Clarke invoked the above Solzhenitsyn quote to bolster his call for a 'crisis government' which suspends many civil liberties in the event of a national disaster. I think he was taking Solzhenitsyn out of context. Solzhenitsyn was referring to the ills of a growing "police state" and to a lesser extent the threat of Communism, not terrorism as we know it today. Clarke is a doom sayer. I can say that with confidence. His vision of a national police state in the event of a crisis has its valid points, however even Clarke says that an eventual return to normalcy is the best solution once the crisis is over.So, here we are, 6 years after the fact and what have we accomplished?
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