In the Here and Now

Deborah Venable

04/29/12

What does it take to completely corrupt every last vestige of law, order, and decency in this country? We may be finding out in the here and now, and the rapid expansion of the effort to accomplish this is seemingly overwhelming.

In the last few weeks it was the Secret Service scandal in Columbia that set off every decency alarm monitor in those paying attention. For myself, it was another moment of sheer disbelief. The Secret Service is not just another loosely knit group of citizens that get together every now and then to have a few laughs. Then there are also the military personnel involved in the same scandal – how absolutely unbelievable!

For anyone who may not realize just how difficult it is (or used to be anyway) to get the kind of security clearance necessary to acquire the direct responsibility for an American president’s safety, I have some first-hand knowledge.

My brother spent his last few years in the U.S. Navy attached to White House Communications – during the Nixon years no less. He actually worked in the White House on numerous occasions as well as the president’s national travel locales, such as the “Western White House” in San Clemente and of course, Camp David. He was also sent out of the country on an advanced team when the president traveled internationally. While his job did not involve personal protection Secret Service duties, military guys of his caliber were expected to protect the president’s communications abilities at all times. It was a challenging job to say the least. My brother was an electronics technician and could weave many a fine (unclassified of course) story about “wiring” the president. He personally met Nixon in passing a few times.

The point to all this is that before he could take this assignment and be transferred to Washington, he was put through the most extensive background check you can imagine – as was his family and practically everyone he knew. We were grilled for hours about the most intimate details of our lives, our beliefs, and with whom we associated. We signed affidavits and had sit-down interviews in our home. My parents and my husband and me were the most strenuously investigated since we were his next of kin – and of course my brother was required to walk on water. I remember it quite well because I was impressed at just how thorough the whole process was. The only thing that came close to it a few years later was the background check to get a federal firearms license to buy and sell guns and ammunition.

Now, this was all many years ago, even before political correctness, so maybe things have changed and it isn’t a big deal any more, these background checks - but somehow I’m not buying it. Suffice it to say, you used to have to be squeaky clean to get close to the president or deal in firearms – but thanks to the current administration, both arenas have been, shall we say, slightly tainted in the here and now.

I don’t like it that heretofore expectations of unblemished honor in institutions like our military and Secret Service and even our Justice Department are now specious at best and totally groundless at worst. The undermining of American culture may not bother some folks, but it grates in my gut! While the military has always had an occasional rogue element, we are being asked to believe that it has now become a breeding ground for immorality. With every attempt (and success) to separate government and public from moral Christian moorings, progressive “enlightenment” propels America toward a fatal cliff. It isn’t by accident – it is very intentional.

Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing 17 Afghani civilians (including 9 children) in March of this year, grabbed all the headlines for a couple of weeks and then dropped off the radar like a crashing airplane. A small amount of research time on the story will only succeed to muddy the waters about the incident. It was, after all, another of those unbelievable accounts, which are becoming far too common. We will never know what really happened on that one because Bales has already been tried and sentenced by most media accounts. The whole thing may stink to the high heavens, but the overall moral rot taking place will eventually cover it up. I saw mention in only one story the implausibility of Bales acting alone – this based on eyewitness victim testimony. I suppose I could give you all kinds of links here, but educationally, it will be far more valuable if you do your own research.

Ask the average citizen to identify Brian Terry and see what you get. He was the frontline victim in what should have been the scandal that took down the chief law enforcement officer in America by now, but it hasn’t. Eric Holder is still hanging in there with his holier than thou, racist, progressive attitude – and with the full backing of his boss I might add. Do a little research on “Fast and Furious” and your head will spin. Having held a federal firearms license in the past, I can tell you this is sickening.

I have to laugh as I try to contain my anger when I read commentary that takes the form of “duh, dummies, did you really think Secret Service and military guys sent out of the country to sometimes exotic locations never dallied with the local entertainment and booze before?” I kid you not – these stories are out there. Well, not so long ago, down time for these guys was strictly for sleeping because they got precious little otherwise. Thirty-six hours “on the ground” in Paris in the early 70s meant my brother spent most of the time on rooftops viewing the Eiffel Tower from that prospective – oh, and no booze or entertainment to be found. Of course, back in those days most folks that were working hard to get ahead and do a good job in any line of work didn’t punch a clock. Ancient history I guess.

As for the underhanded madness necessary for legal guns to make it into the hands of criminal Mexican drug thugs via law-abiding U.S. gun dealers AND with the blessing and direction of the ATF and DOJ – well reality check doesn’t work on that either! If you have never had to deal with the mounds of paperwork involved with keeping a federal firearms license active and above board, you probably won’t hear me on this either. Suffice it to say, I wouldn’t even attempt it now.

The here and now is so far removed from yesterday, for me at least, that it feels more foreign to me than you can possibly imagine unless you, too, have been there. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the absurdity in the here and now!

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