In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood.
As I creak gingerly toward nearly 70 years of life experience - which was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries, I decided to put down some ongoing thoughts in a series I call "The View From the Outback." That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 10 years. Each Friday I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback.
CBS, NBC, and ABC have announced changes in the way they will "call" elections. I repeat my earlier statement that "calling" an election serves no public purpose. It distorts the election process by planting seeds in the minds of those yet to vote about the "inevitable outcome" of an election. Among other changes, CBS says that "No state's results will be projected until all the polls have closed in that state." This is ridiculous! Especially where calls are made in crucial states with large populations. Until all polls close at the same time in every state, no media outlet ought to be allowed to predict the outcome of an election in any state or nationwide. If you agree, please write Mr. Andrew Heyward, CBS News president, and tell him that he and his counterparts need to start putting the good of the country ahead of this childish race to be first with election results. I can't remember who the news presidents are at ABC, FOX, NBC, and CNN. I'm sure Ted Turner has some clout at CNN. The network addresses are listed at the end of this column.
It will be interesting to see what happens on the White House Web page on the day after Gov. Bush is sworn in. We will be able to judge the thoroughness of his transition team by whether or not a new set of HTML is already up by that evening or is ready to be FTPd to the server on Day One. Let's hope someone is already carrying those files around in his or her briefcase.
On October 12, 2000, the U.S.S. Cole was put out of commission by a terrorist bomb carried on a small boat that came alongside the ship. Seventeen sailors were killed. There is now ample evidence that normal security precautions were not followed aboard the U.S.S. Cole. It is alleged, for example, that the sentries on duty on the ship did not have ammunition in their guns and were authorized to shoot only if fired upon. Immediately, I rummaged through my files and came up with a letter-to-the-editor I had published in The Dallas Morning News (Nov 12, 1983) concerning the bombing of the U.S. Marine complex in Beirut, Lebanon. The Pentagon said that the attack was "unprecedented" and could not reasonably have been foreseen. I pointed out that even the cowboys had enough sense to "circle-the-wagons" against potential Indian attacks. In conclusion I said, "Unloaded guns and a smile won't hack it anymore. So, we had better wise up and shore up our defenses or face the inevitable consequences." Again, that was written in 1983!
A woman who weighs more than 300 pounds sued Southwest Airlines for discrimination after being asked to purchase a second seat so as not to inconvenience other passengers seated next to her. A judge in Los Angeles dismissed the case. Now, the passengers who sat next to her ought to sue for invasion of privacy, assault with intent to suffocate, and denial of due process because of lack of egress to the bathroom. No, I'm not picking on fat people. I have had a problem with my weight all of my life. I aim my poison arrow at the legal profession - who make up a new "right" or invent a new "cause of action" about once a week.
Made in USA
I long for the good old days when most of what we bought said "Made in Japan." Now, nearly every low-end item of electronics I turn over has a label that says "Made in China." Much of the higher-end stuff is made in Taiwan, Malaysia, or Mexico - among other places. We are touted as having the most efficient manufacturing capabilities in the world. The trick is to find anything smaller than a car that is made in America. It is like looking for Waldo. I think even my new Chevy Silverado pickup was assembled in Canada. Good people there, with a good work ethic. It is possible (probable) that the truck was built with more care than at some of the GM assembly plants in the U.S.
I just turned over my Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick - made in Malaysia. There is a desklamp with natural-daylight flourescent bulbs - made in Taiwan. The Louis Rukeyser's coffee mug - made in China. Stapler - made in Great Britain. Verbatim (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) CD-R disc - made in Taiwan. Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer - made in Mexico. Radio Shack Scanner - made in China. Radio Shack Emergency handcrank AM/FM Radio - "custom manufactured" in China. Radio Shack is keeping a major portion of the Chinese economy afloat. The Miracle Juicer is made in Poland.
My five-channel home-theater receiver bears the label of the venerable Japanese firm Yamaha - but it is made in Malaysia. Even the Japanese can no longer afford to make their own stuff! My Panasonic VCR is actually made in Japan, but it is a few years old. The remote for the VCR, however, was made in China. The manual for another VCR, from the Sanyo company in Japan, says "printed in Indonesia," so that is probably where it was made. I'm too exhausted from this room-to-room search to turn it over and look.
Bingo! I found one. My Zoom external modem is made in the USA. Also, my beloved Klipsch speakers are made, I think, in Hope, Arkansas. Another product came out of Hope, but there is a difference between sweet music and hot air.
Start looking for "Made in USA" labels. It will be a great way to kill a cold winter evening. Do you remember the old ads, "Look for the Union Label"? Try and find one of those today. They are probably worth more than a Mickey Mantle bubblegum card. One of my warm-up jackets was made in Bangladesh. Honest. Two others were made in Malaysia.
Let me tell you of an offshore manufacturing gambit that failed. In the ham-radio hobby for as long as I can remember there was a premier power amplifier that boosted the output of a standard ham-radio transmitter. For a long time, there was nothing even close to being comparable. This high-power amp helps reach such far-flung places as the South Pole and Siberia. They are very expensive, from about $4,000 to around $6,000. To do it first-class, ham-radio is a very expensive hobby, but it keeps you out of the bars and in the house. The company tried making one of its models in Bulgaria - to bring the price down in line with several competitors that had come on the scene in recent years. Well, the Bulgarian experiment did not work, and the plant there was closed. An analogy would be like trying to make a Lincoln Town Car in a Yugo factory - with due regard for my several bright and capable friends in Bulgaria (former friends?). The required manufacturing infrastructure was simply not there.
Celebrities Rush To Move Overseas In Protest Of Bush Victory
Many celebrities vowed to move out of the U.S. if George W. Bush were elected. So far as I can tell, the only one who is making good on that promise is Pierre Salinger. Portly Pierre, who is 75, is "moving" to France. Talk about a hollow threat. Hmmm. It seems to me that he has lived in France for many, many years - and was formerly the chief foreign correspondent for ABC News out of Paris. His fourth wife, Nicole, runs a bed-and-breakfast in France. Has he not been living with his wife all this time? He says that he is disposing of his apartment in Georgetown (DC area). Maybe he needs the money. This is the man who told us that TWA Flight 800 was shot down by a U.S. Navy missile during tests. Have a nice life, Pierre, seriously. Enjoy the wine, the cheese and the pastries - as we did when we lived in Europe. Nobody here will miss you. We thought you were gone a long time ago.
Others who said they would leave, as I recall, were Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell, Cher, Barbra Streisand, and director Robert Altman. They seemed to have changed their minds. Maybe the fact that Hillary got elected to the Senate gives them hope that the Republic will be saved. Here in the Outback, we were so hoping that there would be a mass exodus from Hollywood. What a disappointment.
Bill Clinton, Making His Mark On History Until The Moving Vans Come
To those who keep giving Bill Clinton such high approval ratings, we trust that you are proud of his latest insults to the electorate. In a flurry of executive orders, one stands out as being particularly repugnant and cynical. Mr. Clinton revoked an executive order that banned former White House officials from various "lobbying" or "trade activities" for five years after their resignation from the post they held in the administration. You may recall that there was much righteous chest-thumping when he signed the order (Executive Order 12834) on the day he was inaugurated! His use of "recess appointments," (of a federal appellate judge, et al.) are viewed by most anyone with a political conscience as highly improper.
The man is incredible! He is so worried about his legacy, yet he continues to subvert the normal legal and political processes down to his last day in office. He is deluded by his own PR. He is convinced that no matter what he does, he can charm and spin his way to a favorable public opinion. Sadly, he is a master at doing it. Historians will not be blinded by his charisma and charm. He will get his just rewards in the history books.
In my career as a Federal agent and CIA agent, I met some of the lowest forms of human life and saw some of the most sinister of plots. But, never have I seen anything in a democratic society like the abuse of power of the Clinton Administration. The abuses even transcend the Nixon abuses, although not as well known - yet. When all the dust settles, and more of the truth is ferreted out, many of you Clinton fans will be like George Stephanopolous. You will want to distance yourself from him and his administration and will wonder how you could have been so passionate about him and those who surrounded him. I watched George Stephanopolous carefully from when he first surfaced in the Clinton campaign. He always seemed like a sensible and moral guy. Several times I wrote him a letter (but never mailed one) in which I basically asked "What is a nice fellow like you doing working for a guy like that?" My instincts were pretty good. I wished I had mailed at least one of those letters.
The Hillary Chronicles
Many of us in the Outback are still confounded by the recent poll indicating that Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America. Once again, this speaks poorly of the intelligence and moral standards of those queried for the poll. What has she ever done to merit this adulation - other than manipulate, lie, cover-up, and abuse power? The suspect poll is rather like asking someone which do you prefer, a Rattlesnake, a Copperhead, or a Cobra? It is a shame that women of real accomplishment do not have higher visibility. They don't have the national Liberal media staying up nights trying to find a new way to cast an empty vessel as a pitcher of healthy Florida Orange Juice.
One of my female idols is Carly Fiorina, the President and Chairman of Hewlett-Packard. HP is one of the great American technology companies. Compare what Carly has done in her life with that of Hillary Clinton, and you run out of similarities after "graduated from college." There are many other woman in this country much more deserving of "most admired." The problem is that they spend their time in productive work instead of issuing press releases and arranging photo ops.
If you are not a fan of Hillary, and there are legions, one of the most heart-warming things you can do is read anything written about her by Peggy Noonan. Among other places, Peggy's work can be read weekly on The Wall Street Journal online opinion website (www.opinionjournal.com).
If you saw Ted Koppel and Chris Bury on "Larry King Live" on Jan. 4, you got a tantalizing preview of the "Nightline" series "The Clinton Years," which will run the week of January 8th - and later as a two-hour special on PBS "Frontline." There should be some interesting, and maybe eye-opening, portions relating to Hillary. Mr. Koppel's contempt for Hillary was not disguised during the King appearance.
(For what it is worth, I was once an "audience participant" on a Ted Koppel Town Hall on TV. The topic was government censorship, a subject with which I was intimately familiar from my dealings with the CIA on my first novel. I will never forget after the broadcast when Floyd Abrams, the renowned First Amendment lawyer (New York Times - Pentagon Papers, et al.) handed me his card and asked me to keep in touch. We exchanged a few thoughts over the years. Very flattering.)
Judicial Watch (www.judicialwatch.org) still has eight lawsuits against Hillary Clinton for violation of privacy rights and other infractions. They have over 80 active lawsuits concerning Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, members of the Clinton-Gore Administration and their federal agencies.
Mrs. Clinton, and her husband, are chronically late for appointments. Some folks in the Senate have already gone on record as saying that if Hillary does not show up on time for a committee meeting, for example, they will move on without her. She arrived 50 minutes late for a "power coffee" for the 13 female senators on December 6th.
Hillary, as a former first-lady, is entitled to Secret Service protection for life. In Washington, DC, which has one of the highest murder and crime rates in the country, that is a very nice perk. Not too bad an idea in New York City, where criminals have more guns than the law-abiding citizens. Other senators will no doubt tire of her Secret Service detail trailing along with her - everywhere. And some will also ask privately - and maybe publicly - why is she different from the rest of us? Why does she need and rate protection and we don't? After all, she is "The Most Admired Woman in America." She can decline the Secret Service protection, if she chooses to do so. Oh, the fun begins! If you thought Bill Clinton got a lot of coverage, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Network Addresses
ABC 77 West 66th St., New York, NY 10023
CBS 51 West 52nd St., New York, NY 10019
NBC 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
FOX PO Box 900, Beverly Hill, CA 90213
CNN One CNN Center, Atlanta, GA 30348
COPYRIGHT 2001 Richard C. Rhodes
You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I welcome corrections of fact, notes of misspelled words, and so on.
Richard C. Rhodes
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