The Occasional Dissident

“As Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly know too well, the threat of terrorist acts in New York City is a daily challenge. Holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial in that city, and trying other enemy combatants in venues such as Washington, DC and northern Virginia, would unnecessarily increase the burden of facing those challenges, including the increased risk of terrorist attacks.” - A January 26, 2010 letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder signed by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Lindsey ... Read More

“You just don’t know what you’re up against if you get into something with another motorist. This went back to whatever happened on that merge. We tell people: Don’t engage with aggressive drivers. Don’t give in to that inclination. Let it go.” - Corinne Geller, Virginia State Police spokeswoman (“Drivers charged in road rage case,” Washington Post, March 25, 2010) Dear citizens, I am going to reveal a darker side of my personality today. While many know me to ... Read More

[Author’s note: Dear citizens, in the essay below, I have truthfully recorded my actions not to compliment myself but rather to serve as a “lessons learned” for others who will act against the Westboro family’s insults to members of the armed services, living and deceased. I hope that others will improve on my efforts.] … I had never before organized a counter-protest. But, a counter-protest was clearly required. A Baptist Church was threatening to exercise its First Amendment rights. It ... Read More

“ … “ - We Americans on the plight of Iraq’s displaced, today   Dear citizens, a few years ago, as I was working to get our military forces out of Iraq, I asked a very dear and very brilliant friend to review an essay I had just written.  She kindly applauded my efforts at describing the imperative of withdrawal before chiding me mildly for ignoring the Iraqi people and all humanitarian concerns. As you can ... Read More

“The vast majority of American Muslims are law-abiding, upstanding citizens who vehemently shun the violence embraced by the radical and dangerous few.  In many ways, American Muslims have the most to lose when extremists carry out their warped plans, and they suffer most when they are unjustly lumped in with the radicals." - Washington Post editorial “An enemy within: Combating the spread of homegrown extremism” (December 16, 2009)   Dear citizens, The Washington Post editorial cited above begins with ... Read More

Dear citizens, I had not planned to write today or especially about today.  As a veteran, to me it can seem, well, unseemly, to write about myself and my comrades in arms.  But, events conspire as you well know, and some unexpected free time and a comment by a friend have convinced me that writing today is proper.  However, I will not be writing about veterans; I will write about you.    I think I should start by pointing out that this day ... Read More

“What this tells us is, at the end of the day, there are individuals, that if released, will again return to terrorist activities.” - Bryan Whitman, Pentagon spokesman (“Pentagon: Some Gitmo detainees rejoin fight,” Associated Press on MSNBC.com, May 26, 2009)   Dear citizens, you are perhaps familiar with a fundamentally different NIMBY—NOT in my backyard!  We face, collectively, myriad challenges that require sacrifice on the part of some of our citizens.  And, we all agree that we should not be those citizens called upon ... Read More

Looking out my window, I can see clearly the Air Force Memorial.  It looms over the Pentagon, bordering the vast expanse of sacrifice-filled Arlington National Cemetery.  I returned to this area as the memorial was being constructed and watched its completion in rapt fascination.  I passed by almost daily on a bus that runs from my home to the Pentagon terminal, coming within a hundred yards or so of the base of the arcs that soar overhead.  I had passed countless times ... Read More

“So the record is clear:  Rather than keeping us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security.  It is a rallying cry for our enemies.  It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries.  By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it.  That's why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign, and that is why ... Read More

A heartless cold has settled over this ground.  I am wearing a shirt, a sweater, and have the collar of my field jacket turned up against the wind.  Yet, when I am inactive in body or mind for more than a moment, the oppressive cold attacks me.  I am forced to be inactive repeatedly, and the cold seems each time to reach inside my protections and directly squeeze my heart.  Perhaps you felt it, too. The vista before me is one of small ... Read More