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Posted on 06/27/2002 12:55:09 PM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Hello Again!
My name is Molly and I am a robin. I learned to think a short time ago by seeing myself in car door mirrors. I am a mother who has had several broods of hatchlings. At first I did not think at all, but seeing myself in mirrors sparked my brain and I have been reading everything about this wonderful country in local school libraries.
Everyday I see stories about companies, which appear to have committed financial corruption of one kind or another and the newspapers make it front page headlines. Take Martha Stewart. She is accused of selling her stock with insider information and making two hundred thousand dollars. Well, how does that compare to the tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent and wasteful projects of federal departments every year, year in and year out. And WorldCom misled investors by hiding over three billion dollars in debt illegally. The federal government is defrauded that amount on a weekly basis from Medicare fraud to Housing and Urban Development waste. That news media of yours may have a problem in distinguishing what is important in dollar terms. I think that mainstream media likes big government no matter how many billions of dollars are squandered.
I live in Malone Town Park and we are now establishing our first college. It's called Honesty College. I've learned from the mistakes of your species. Our curriculum will revolve around honesty by getting all the facts and statistics on government. Unfortunately you humans will not be able to be enrolled. It's only for the creatures of the park. But I can tell you all about it. First, scrutiny will be on the people's business, namely, government. Take Amtrak for instance. They are subsidized in billions of dollars. Public Broadcasting System is subsidized delivering a skewed message on government because government is feeding it. What we will do at Honesty College is examine the subsidies and remedy the situation. But you upright worms, I'm sorry that's what the other robins call humans, cannot resolve these public sector issues. Medicare fraud was on a back page of the New York Times saying billions of dollars are defrauded from Medicare/Medicaid every year. Now, there has been no remedy to this. We robins would have initiated a system to reduce that fraud by now.
In our Honesty College the blunders of bureaucracy will not remain a secret on back pages of newspapers. As a robin I am very aware of everything around me and I am suspicious of editors of mainstream publications that conveniently downplay and conceal negative financial data of government. These media elites believe that government misconduct and incompetence is almost innocuous because in their view government is inherently for the public good no matter how much money is misspent and wasted. Reporting in detail on the spending blunders, such as four hundred million dollars on computers and software for the Federal Bureau of Investigation that are almost useless for its needs of doing computer searches on things like "aviation schools." We creatures at Malone Town Park would never waste money like that. Or if we did somebody would not have the privilege of doing it again!
Flying around the country you get a good perspective. I think you humans should have a separate school for all college presidents and deans mandating them to attend a place like Honesty College where all the facts will be brought forward front and center. They should also be taught the lessons of the humans like the Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin said "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
I read everyday where you humans will tolerate more and more intrusions by government for your safety. One day you will find yourselves trapped by government, your freedoms frittered away because you were afraid. First, they took away some gun rights, then they took some privacy rights and now with the social security number and credit cards track your every move so good government can monitor you.
At Honesty College we will teach a complete unvarnished view of government that does not present an unrealistic and false view of government capabilities. The humans managing your colleges need a crash course in teaching a clearer vision of not only the benefits but the deficiencies and dangers of government. A balance between power and citizen rights needs to be maintained for a fully functioning free society. Maybe colleges, especially those funded by government will never embrace: of the people, by the people and for the people. Maybe educators, government unions and politicians are for the concept, of me, by me and for me. For them the public is like a sponge that needs constant squeezing to get their water and sustenance.
As I fly over your cities I think I am very free. Until next time, Molly.
Only by the inaction of its garderners and owners.We, the people, Molly, took a well deserved holiday after the Cold War ended.We forgot, for a time, the smaller, less potent, enemies of our way of life,without and within.
Vacation is over,time to get back to work.
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