The story I blogged on a week ago, about a student in Massachusetts having been visited by agents from the Department of Homeland Security because he allegedly requested a copy of Quotations from Chairman Mao through interlibrary loan, has been unmasked as a hoax. I applaud the professors who fact-checked the story and uncovered the truth, and I feel sorry for the student in question, who may have been motivated, according to the linked article, by a need to feel popular. He should get help, and I expect, though the university will rightly not comment on the matter because of privacy concerns, he will also suffer a few adverse consequences for his actions.
But there is a bigger issue to confront here as well: that being the fact that this story mushroomed into an international incident in a matter of hours. I don't think there was any intent to deceive us on the part of the media, who were reporting as fact information they had reason to believe was factual--and who have done their due diligence and reported on the debunking of the original story. What does it say, however, about how far the United States has fallen in the five years since the Shrubbery took over the White House, that hundreds (or hundreds of thousands) of people from all over the world--your 'umble correspondent included--didn't even bat an eyelid at the tale spun by this student?
Once upon a time, half a century ago at the height of the Red Scare for instance, the story would have been utterly plausible--and probably would never have hit print, because everyone would have believed the kid had gotten what was coming to him (and the newspapers would probably have worried about attracting unwanted attention from the feds themselves, too). But those were different times, and the laws have changed since then.
But then we started to hear rumblings about torture in U.S. detention facilities, and pictures came to light showing several instances of what sure looked like it. Bush and his minions pooh-poohed, and slapped a few hands way down the food chain to make it look good. Then came allegations that many of the prominent Republicans at the head of that party, and also in the circle of advisers (and donors) around the president had been getting rich through kickbacks, payoffs, bribes, money-laundering, and no-bid contracts. Again, the administration's response was to downplay the allegations, until they blew up in their faces. Finally, we heard that the administration had been illegally spying on, not only foreigners but U.S. citizens--and again the Shrubbery has attempted to shoot the messenger rather than do anything about the contents of the message.
Is it any real wonder, then, that so many people could find such an outrageous story plausible? It certainly fits with the pattern of abuses committed by the president and the people closest to him documented to date--and that's the thing about this story that truly sucks rocks. We've become used to thinking of our government as a bullying, cheating, lying bunch of crooks who'd sell their own grandmothers into a Turkish brothel if they thought it would win them a political advantage, or bring in enough money to help them buy some more clout.
So much for "restoring honor and dignity" to the White House, eh? Can I please have a government in this country again that is worthy of my trust and respect--and which will not abuse that trust and respect at every turn simply to further its own selfish ends? Pretty please?
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