Posted on 07/01/2002 6:44:25 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
In addition to honoring our forefathers, here's a little something to reflect on during the upcoming celebration of our country's founding.
In 1905, Albert Einstein published his first introduction to the "special theory of relativity":
"It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing -- a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind. Furthermore, the equation E is equal to m c-squared, in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa." — Albert Einstein
In 1983, Ronald Reagan gave the prelude to his 1987 demand, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!":
"I urge you to beware the temptation ... to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of any evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil."
In 2001, Osama bin Laden celebrated the most cowardly sneak attack on America since Pearl Harbor:
"There is America, hit by god in one of its softest spots. Its greatest buildings were destroyed, thank god for that. There is America, full of fear from its north to its south, from its west to its east. Thank god for that. ... To America, I say only a few words to it and its people. I swear by god, who has elevated the skies without pillars, neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him."
On June 8, 2002, Terry Lynn Barton Forest Service Technician, intentionally set the worst forest fire in Colorado's history:
"On June 7, the day before the fire, Barton left and spent the night with Howard to avoid John (her husband). 'She was making some decisions about getting a divorce, and he didn't want her to do that,' co-worker Stephanie Howard said. 'Are you suggesting that John Barton caused Terry Barton to start this fire?' prosecutor David Conner asked. 'Indirectly I am, yes,' Howard said." ...
" Terry Barton burned the letter in a form of emotional protest, and the fire was set accidentally, said Jerry Panek, another witness at the hearing. Panek said Terry Barton had served divorce papers to John, but he burned them. Panek said Terry's burning of the letter was a "symbolic" response to the divorce papers being set on fire."
What are the commonalities shared among these widely disparate events? Let me suggest the following:
• All four events are among the most significant landmarks in the evolving American culture of the last 100 years.
• All four events deal with the transformation of one form of energy for another.
• All four events either have had or should have a profound affect on the direction taken by the culture.
• The first two events exemplify the transformative power of positive energy involving history and logic. The last two events exemplify the transformative power of negative energy involving imputation and emotion.
To a mind steeped in the tradition of pre-sixties America and engulfed in the post-sixties feminist diasporas which exiled those traditions, the confluence of these foregoing events is as perceptible as that of the Amazon wedding of the Rio Solimoes and the Rio Negro.
Einstein's E=mc2 represents a mathematical interpretation of the physics of events taking place in the cosmological universe. It was the positive transformative power of this author's logic that brought us closer to space exploration and alternative power sources.
But because it is the prodigy of a human mind, as is often the case in such heuristics, it mirrors the metaphysics of events taking place in the ontological (human relations) universe as well.
In the physical sense, E=mc2 is shorthand for, "one form of energy can be transformed into another," or "energy and mass are different manifestations of the same thing." In the ontological sense, the shorthand expression is among others, "emotion is energy potential" or "actions have consequences."
So it was when President Ronald Reagan transformed his lifelong patriotic fervor into a positive force that energized the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war. In that we saw the transformative power of positive energy involving history and logic.
And alternatively so, we have seen the terrorist Osama bin Laden transform his megalomanic aspirations into a fatwa of justification for the negative transformation of the positive energy of an airplane into the destructive energy of a megaton bomb.
And now we come to the transformations being frequented in the Terry bambi Lynn case.
The latest attempt at justification is brought by Jennifer Hamilton, Associated Press (AP) writer, who in her closing paragraph reports, "Court documents show Barton sought a temporary restraining order against her husband in 1992 from a Fresno, Calif., court. She claimed John Barton drank heavily and beat her in front of their two daughters."
Hmmm? Yet in the lead paragraph, Hamilton (AP) reports, "The two teen-age daughters of a U.S. Forest Service worker slipped an old love letter from her estranged husband into her pack the morning the woman allegedly ignited Colorado's largest wildfire, a family friend said Friday. ... 'I have a feeling the girls wanted their parents to reconcile'," said the friend, Connie Work.
Which is more likely?: (a.) Barton falsely alleged the battering to secure the restraining order, or (b.) the teen daughters are suffering from repressed memory syndrome and have for the past ten years been intimidated by their battering father to conspire against their mother, or (c.) Jennifer Hamilton is a feminist transformer.
How about this? Again, the friend-of-bambi Connie Work said last week, "Barton lied to investigators at first only because, as her family's sole support, she was afraid of losing her job."
Well, this week, in a report that the Forest Service has now fired her "based on her conduct", we learn that as a part-time worker, she earned much less than a full-time technician's salary of $25,000 per year. This latter piece of information assumes greater relevance when we learn that her "drunken, battering" husband has now come forth to pledge his financial interest in their home in order to secure her $60,000 bail bond. Are you following this so far?
The value of Terry Lynn and John Barton's home is, according to the Teller County Assessor's Office, $141,000. The Barton's bought their home about eight years ago. Are we to believe that the "family's sole support", earning much less than $25,000 per year and working only part-time, is the either a world-class coupon-clipper, or she may have had just a little more help from husband John than acknowledged - at least when he wasn't drunk or beating her in front of the girls - to meet that big mortgage payment.
Terry Lynn has now been granted bail (with counseling, of course), following her husband's (loving?) release of his half-interest in the home. She has also pleaded "Innocent" (instead of "not guilty"? - that's how the AP reported it.) to the four federal charges against her - claiming it was an accident. The Forest Service arson investigators, though, say that the campfire ring in which Barton apparently started the fire with the burning letter, was rearranged to create a very effective funnel effect, causing the fire to explode away at more than a foot per second.
Consider this; between May 13th and June 26th, various Colorado fire investigators have been chasing what they think are two "serial arsonists" who are said to have set at least 27 fires. But despite these frequent and persistent efforts, not one of those fires has spread beyond 900 square feet (that's max. 30 ft2). Are we to believe that Terry bambi Lynn Barton's fire was just "accidentally" more successful? I guess that falls in the "maybe" category right now.
And finally, in her premiere CNN appearance last week, Connie Chung featured an interview with Terry Barton's bother-in-law, Lowell Freeman. In general, his responses were similar to those of other supporters in her family. He is, after all, married to Terry Barton's sister. But at the end of the interview, prior to receiving a warm handshake from Chung, he made a somewhat revealing statement. "John has written letters to Terry when she can't, when they can't talk, he writes letters, she goes off and reads them by herself. And then she makes her decision."
At first Freeman seemed to intimate that Terry Barton was the emotionally overwrought member of this duo, incapacitated to the point of even talking with her husband. But he quickly reversed himself, making the situation one of mutuality.
Now everyone who has been involved in a relationship, at some point in time, found themselves too upset to engage in conversation, and simply retreated. What may be revealing here, however, is not so much that this had become a chronic condition, but that ultimately it was the Missus who was in control - "And then she makes her decision." This sounds more like John Barton was making an appeal to the Supreme Court than having a marital discussion between equals.
So why rank the Barton event among the most significant of the last century?
First, because it is an unparalleled event in which a case of marital discord is being attributed primacy against the background of a historically unique catastrophe affecting the lives of tens of thousands. It is one of the most breathtaking examples of illusory transformation since the discovery of the Necker Cube, wherein foreground becomes background and the resulting ambiguity overwhelms the objective view.
Second, the credibility being given to the notion that personal responsibility for a vast wrongdoing is secondary to a personal emotional experience of infinitesimally small proportion to the outcome of the wrongdoing, is ludicrously preposterous.
Finally, it is this combination of illusory victimhood and nobilitated emotion that is at the very root of the feminist transformation of American values and the destruction of the American family.
In its essence, we are being asked to accept that the momentary personal unhappiness of an individual, that is, a female individual is a colossus exceeding the breadth and width of 137,000 acres and a valuation of more than $20 million dollars.
But why not? It is this exact formula that has been used to demonize men and marriage, destroy untold thousands of children's lives, permit millions of abortions, underwrite the most massive transfer of wealth since the creation of the income tax, and simultaneously absolve the female perpetrators of any and all responsibility.
So, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I urge you to beware the temptation ... to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil act, to simply call the sex wars a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.
Despite her confession and the factual evidence, Terry Lynn Barton is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That is her constitutional protection against false incrimination. And that should also be the protection extended to her husband and children. But it is not to be. The husband has been indicted and found guilty in the court of the media, and his daughters are accessories. Guilty of what? Of having allegedly caused distress for a woman that led her to commit an accident.
This just in: A contract firefighter for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Leonard Gregg, 29, has just (6/30/02) admitted that he set the "Rodeo" portion of the now combined Rodeo-Chediski wildfire in Arizona. His reasons, aside from the profit motive ("he wanted more than just seasonal work so he could boost his income"), were "because he was angry at his parents for what he called their drinking problems." Has a familiar ring to it, eh? Although the story does not yet fully confirm that Gregg is a member of the White Mountain Apache community, it will if true, add a whole new dimension to the Barton case. If yet another emotionally bereft, victimized 'bambi' has appeared - especially if he is a Native American, the transformational media may just implode.
If John Barton is out there reading this, and wants a fair hearing, just drop me an email John, and I'll tell your story as you see it.
On a personal note: this will be my last regular column until Fall - or a significant development in the Barton trial, whichever comes first. Or until contacted by John Barton. For the second time in nearly ten years, I'm going to cut back from 80+ hours a week to something a little more relaxing. Thank you so much for your kind letters, and the time you have taken to read these words. - GLR
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