?Chains off the back of a John Deere tractor. The photo was taken in December of 2009.

Thank you, sir, may I have another?

10:18 on Friday, March 12, 2004 • 4 responses

I’ve had so much I’ve wanted to write about these past few days and no time or energy to write. I’m leaving early tomorrow for a two-week return to Illinois, and as such I’m scrambling to finish up my academic and my teaching responsibilities here in Santa Cruz before departing.

One of the things I’ve wanted to write most about was Tuesday’s 50th anniversary of Edward R. Murrow’s monumentally defiant news broadcast criticizing the anti-communist policies of Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy. It strikes me as particularly poignant that such a remembrance should take place in an era where the field of journalism has completely bent over for the entertainment industry. In what I fear is a terminal case of post 9/11 aphasia, the field of journalism is no longer interested in being a force for social change. There are no more Edward R. Murrows. The FCC and Clear Channel will see to that.

Fittingly, I got a disturbing email from my friend Dan yesterday. With his permission, I’m posting it here. For context, the employee mentioned in this email, a Mexican mechanic, is without question one of the nicest people I know.

Today at lunch a very serious looking guy in a Hawaiian shirt stepped up to the front counter at my shop and informed me that he would be taking one of my employees away “to talk to him.”

“Oh, really?” I asked.

Out came the badge: Department of Homeland Security. HFS!!!

I looked out the window, and sure enough, my employee was already cuffed and stuffed into the back of a Ford.

My employee called a few hours later, telling me that they were shipping him off to Arizona for questioning. Needless to say, he was rather upset.

An hour later he called back to say they had made a mistake and had let him go. They left him without a ride 50 miles away from home, but he was free to go.

They asked him a bunch of crap and told him to call his work and family to tell them he’ll be gone for “some time”. Then, after an hour he overheard them say, “We can’t hold him.” He was on the street in five minutes. They said they were sorry for the inconvenience. I sent him home for the day to decompress. I keep trying to think of something witty to write, but just can’t seem to make light of it yet.

Cuba. There, that’s real funny.

Now I don’t know what I’m more afraid of. My personal security or the people ensuring it.

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4 responses

1

bakerkm45

Comment posted at 12:52 on Monday, March 15, 2004

The ironic part is the broad set of powers bequeathed to agents acting on behalf of a government agency that can’t even get a simple case of identity right.

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2

picara

Comment posted at 23:43 on Monday, March 15, 2004

Since I’m young and optimistic I would just like to say that while things look pretty grim out there in t.v. land, thank goodness for NPR.  I believe that Juan Gonzales and Amy Goodman have an excellent broadcast which is devoted to journalism as a vehicle for social change- and without all of the Santa Cruz hippie-dippy or conspiracy theory stuff.  So hurray for Murrows and his legacy, no matter how little is left 50 years later. 

Thanks for posting the story about the DHS.  Your friend is right- what could be worse than the way we treat all non-whites-appearing-to-be-immigrants that the absolute disaster and miscarriage of justice in Guantanamo, Cuba?  I’d like to see some journalists on flotation devices ‘a-la-cubana’ braving the sharks to get some footage of the prison.  Now that would be entertaining!

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3

Jenn

Comment posted at 17:02 on Wednesday, March 17, 2004

I’ve been thinking about that for some time. You know, the whole what am I more scared of bit. I’d say most of the time anymore, it’s the people running the show that get to whip out badges.

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4

heisenberg

Comment posted at 10:11 on Tuesday, March 23, 2004

WHO ARE YOU?  AP story in the local Mar. 23 paper, the Supreme Court will consider a Nevada misdemeanor conviction of a man for resisting arrest.  He refused a police request to identify himself.  Nothing else, but there is a question of whether there was “reasonable” probable cause for the officer to suspect this person had done anything illegal.  What the Court says, the minority opinions, and exactly what facts of the case the majority hinges its opinion on can be far reaching.  If I have done nothing wrong and the cop has no good cause to stop me, should I have to tell him who I am?  Should I have to carry papers at all times that will substantiate my saying who I am?  What if my only “offense” is being black in an upscale white neighborhood after sunset, or being a spectator at a protest rally?  Or working at a restaurant kitchen, farm, or Walmart store where illegal immigrants have in the past been apprehended?  Then, where’s the line?  How suspicious is someone taking several photos inside an airport when we all want to fly safely?

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