Peeve Farm

g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets

Brian Tiemann
Silicon Valley-based purveyor of a confusing mixture of Apple punditry and political bile.

btman at grotto11 dot com

Read These Too:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue
Ravishing Light

« ? Blogging Brians # »

Book Plugs:

Buy 'em and I get
money. I think.
BSD Mall

5/31/2004 -   6/6/2004
5/24/2004 -  5/30/2004
5/17/2004 -  5/23/2004
5/10/2004 -  5/16/2004
  5/3/2004 -   5/9/2004
4/26/2004 -   5/2/2004
4/19/2004 -  4/25/2004
4/12/2004 -  4/18/2004
  4/5/2004 -  4/11/2004
3/29/2004 -   4/4/2004
3/22/2004 -  3/28/2004
3/15/2004 -  3/21/2004
  3/8/2004 -  3/14/2004
  3/1/2004 -   3/7/2004
2/23/2004 -  2/29/2004
2/16/2004 -  2/22/2004
  2/9/2004 -  2/15/2004
  2/2/2004 -   2/8/2004
1/26/2004 -   2/1/2004
1/19/2004 -  1/25/2004
1/12/2004 -  1/18/2004
  1/5/2004 -  1/11/2004
12/29/2003 -   1/4/2004
12/22/2003 - 12/28/2003
12/15/2003 - 12/21/2003
12/8/2003 - 12/14/2003
12/1/2003 -  12/7/2003
11/24/2003 - 11/30/2003
11/17/2003 - 11/23/2003
11/10/2003 - 11/16/2003
11/3/2003 -  11/9/2003
10/27/2003 -  11/2/2003
10/20/2003 - 10/26/2003
10/13/2003 - 10/19/2003
10/6/2003 - 10/12/2003
9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
  7/1/2002 -   7/7/2002
6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
  6/3/2002 -   6/9/2002
5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001

Sunday, June 6, 2004
18:44 - Take it like a man	(top)
When I hear stories like the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, or the FBI's wrongly apprehending and interrogating Brandon Mayfield as a material witness in the Madrid bombing, at first I naturally have the same reaction that just about anybody in this country can be expected to have: Well, that just sucks. Someone's head should roll. But there are those who, once that initial shock wears off, make a certain logical leap: that a country or a government that can make such mistakes is clearly no better than, say, Saddam's Baathists. After all, we commit the same atrocities! We spirit away innocent people into the night! What claim to we have to the moral high ground? But that's not the reaction I have. Maybe it's because I have a certain na�ve optimism, the kind of feeling that "the best is yet to come" for America, like Ronald Reagan believed and exuded all through his presidency. My reaction, though, to these pieces of unequivocal bad news is always one almost of gratitude. Because I know that the way we respond to these kinds of demoralizing developments is far more important and self-defining than the developments themselves, and each such incident is an opportunity for us to prove once again what kind of people we are. In short, I would never presume to claim that America never makes mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody on Earth is, after all, only human. It isn't some sort of preternatural infallibility that defines Americans; I'd imagine that we don't make any more or any fewer mistakes of this type than anybody else on the planet. But every time we do, we stand to account for them. Look at the Mayfield case, for example. We mistakenly picked him up because the FBI's fingerprint-matching system reported a false-positive match. But once we had him in custody, and once the truth came out that he wasn't our man�think about how easy it would have been to simply have had him "disappeared", as the Nazis or the Soviets or the Baathists would have done. Think how easy it is to make 200 pounds of human, guilty or innocent, disappear without a trace. Think how simple it would have been to fabricate evidence proving we were right to pick him up; after all, Mayfield was a Muslim convert who did have connections to the "Portland Seven" conspirators. Imagine how little effort the FBI would have had to put in if they'd decided to spare themselves the embarrassment of having to admit in public that they'd made a mistake. In front of a country that knows full well that there are terrorists hiding in plain sight within our borders, living duplicitous lives to camouflage their true intentions until whatever day they're called upon to lash out at the nation whose laws protect them like none other on Earth, such a maneuver�underhanded and despicable, but historically popular as it is�would have been terribly easy to perfom. No one would ever have been the wiser. But that's not what we did. The FBI released Mayfield, apologized to him, and vowed to review its fingerprint-analysis systems. And when Mayfield mounted the podium to denounce the United States government for leading the kind of witch-hunt against innocent Muslims that so many people insist is in fact happening, the FBI merely kicked at its heels, head down, and said "We're sowwy." Which is also what happened with Abu Ghraib. Military commanders from the culpable unit all the way up to the Commander-In-Chief went on public record and international TV with shame-faced apologies, submitting themselves to public scrutiny and military investigation. It would have been easy to denounce the now-ubiquitous human-pyramid photos as frauds or forgeries; it would have been child's play to cover up any culpability in our ranks. But instead, we've shown the Iraqi people what it looks like when authority figures take blame upon themselves rather than do whatever it takes to preserve an illusion of perfection, like they've been used to seeing for the past thirty years. Everybody makes mistakes. Only some, however, own up to them. What defines America is a fundamental trust in our fellow citizens, a trust that those whom we elect to positions of power won't take undue advantage of us. For the most part, the people we elect to those positions recognize that trust as the highest authority over them in our political system�and they'll take upon themselves whatever burden is necessary for any transgression to be made good. Not painted over or whited out: made good. The fact that we do this, voluntarily, naturally makes America look more fallible to the rest of the world than those powers in our past and present whose primary goal is to perpetuate a sense of infallibility. That's only natural. But it's an error of judgment to assume that the number of abuses and mistakes that we hear about Americans making is comparable, in a vacuum, to the number of abuses and mistakes that other governments allow their peoples to find out about. We know mistakes are inevitable. But when they happen, we know how to solve the problem: We stand up and accept the world's judgment. We take it like a man. We won't stand for being judged on unfair grounds, or for having all our people tarred by the actions of an isolated few; but to the extent that fairness and common sense allow, we view mistakes as opportunities for us to improve ourselves, not as nails in our own coffins. We believe that the best policy is to allow the light of day to shine on the truth, because we feel we'll be vindicated once all is known. We don't fear the truth. We have nothing to hide from history. That's what Ronald Reagan believed, and that's why partisans Left and Right�except for the few who inhabit the deep dark fringes�remember him today with the same honor we accord to the D-Day soldiers. They fought toward the same ideal; and that's something that all Americans feel in their bones. Reagan wouldn't have been pleased to hear the news out of Abu Ghraib or Portland. But he'd have accepted no other actions in their wakes than the steps we've taken: showing that a government that holds itself publicly accountable for the mistakes it makes is not imperiled, but in fact makes itself and the people it governs ever stronger.