Sunday Review: Past Pieces

On Saturday, 9 September 2006, a tireless ePluribus Media researcher named Avahome brought an article to the attention of one of our editors, standingup. They discussed the possibility of a story and secured a writer -- me -- to pull together the fantastic slew of research that Avahome had produced on the topic, and shortly after 11:00 pm that evening we'd posted Symbol Susan -- "Though this be madness...".

The piece called attention to the case of Susan Lindauer, who the Department of Justice sought to prosecute for "conspiracy, acting as an unregistered agent of the government of Iraq, and engaging in illegal financial transactions" -- the charges very carefully avoided accusing her of espionage. When Lindauer was declared "unfit to stand trial" the prosecution tried to get a court order to have her forcibly medicated -- that is, drugged against her will -- so that she could be declared fit to stand trial and they could proceed with the prosecution.

Here's an excerpt:

What is the nature of the madness that has taken her, and how does it figure in here?

The bigger question, however, was always her sanity. She had a history of mood swings and paranoid fears. People were watching her, she often said, although, as it turned out, federal agents indeed had set up surveillance and tapped her phone. Still, if she betrayed her country, did she do so knowingly?

Aye, there's the rub -- if she's so nutty, then how crazy is she if she's told she's paranoid for claiming that she was being watched and that her place was bugged -- regardless of the fact that she was under FBI surveillance and they had tapped her phone?

Nutty as a fruitcake, apparently.

Cute, eh? She's nuts 'cuz she's paranoid, she's paranoid because she claims that people were watching her and her phone was tapped...and, of course, the FBI was surveilling her and had tapped her phone. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that everyone isn't out to get you as the saying goes, and was repeated in the comments.

Check out the old story, and the links -- if you'd missed it then, you'll probably be glad you caught it now. It sets the whole myopic mentality of the "Terror!" fearmongering and Big Brother constriction of freedoms (not the mention the invasion of privacy) into rather stark focus.

Keep an eye open for the credits that usually follow some of the ePluribus Media pieces requiring a lot of research -- particularly since you may see some of the other wonderful pieces that are wonderful in no small way due to the fantastic work of ePluribus Media researchers like Avahome. And don't forget to check out the ePluribus Media Journal, which is a news magazine dedicated to publishing articles adhering to the highest standards of journalistic professionalism and ethics. All Journal articles are carefully fact-checked and vetted for accuracy, while the ePluribus Media Community Site is a place to "discuss, debate and decide" issues of common interest.

Happy Sunday!