21 December 2009
 

(North America as viewed from apogee of a Russian Molnaya National Security Orbit. Letters not to scale.)

We will continue our brief account of the career of Admiral Rex in a different stream of reporting, and eventually combine it all into a coherent thread. He lived and served in remarkable times, and his contributions should have more context than the brief biographical sketch he left for his obituary.
 
The aftermath of the blizzard has left the Federal Government unable to open this morning, although the last vote in Congress was not until 0100 this morning. It is similar to the problem I had working from home for a major computer hardware concern: when you have a snow day and you telecommute, you are effectively snowed in at the office. The Senate is stuck until they pass the Health Care bill, and no amount of money will stand in its way.

The schools across the national capital region are likewise closed, and thus there is an opportunity to take stock, fix some problems and attempt to enter the new year with a clean slate on which to scrawl entirely new errata.
 
In telling that story, and other collateral issues of the day, there have been some material misrepresentations of fact. I sometimes had to write to Rex about the indomitable stream of articles he would forward to his close friends. On occasion, the more egregious examples were simply not true, or were twisted versions of the truth designed to advance a conservative agenda.
 
Rex was an eminently fair-minded individual, and he would always take responsibility for matters on which he had been misinformed. The Internet, in addition to its marvelous capability to share information, likewise had ability to spread nonsense with viral rapidity. I blush to think that we here have been bagged more than once by the story that was too good to be true.
 
There are those in the troubled Mainstream Media who simply bury their daily dead and move on. As professionals, we cannot countenance that approach. Unfortunately, the casualties to the truth are mounting, and must be addressed.
 
We are committed to airing the dirty laundry, and let the chips fall where they may. What follows is a laundry list of boners from recent weeks. No excuses. No prisoners.
 
The entire staff of the Socotra Enterprises combines to give a Holiday Shout-out to alert readers who have contributed to the accuracy and integrity of this continuing polemic. In recent issues the following items require clarification:
 
First Intelligence Three Star: Admiral Rex was not the first Intelligence Specialist to achieve the rank of 0-9. VADM Rufus Taylor was the first designated intelligence specialist to make three stars. The significance of attaining this grade for officers of the Restricted Line are significant, since historically the senior billet for intelligence officers is Rear Admiral as the Director of Naval Intelligence. The others are, by date of rank: Rex, VADM Bobbie Ray Inman (later Admiral), VADM Bill Studeman (later Admiral), VADM Mike McConnell (later Big DNI), VADM “Jake” Jacoby (DIA), VADM Bob Murrett (NGA, still active), and VADM Jack Dorsett (DNI and VCNO Information Dominance Corps, still active).
 
The U2 Matter. The reconnaissance mission that became the flash point between the superpowers was launched from Pakistan, not Japan. Gary Powers was flying U-2B #360, USAF tail number 56-6693 on the fateful day. The aircraft was indeed from Atsugi, where it had previously had fuel feed problems and previously crash-landed at a civilian field on the Kanto Plain. Why this aircraft was staged to Pakistan for the “last look” mission is unknown, but the subject of much speculation. Upon recovery in Norway, the aircraft was supposed to be repatriated, and the matter remains the subject of a body of “black helicopter” conspiracy research. But in point of fact, the May Day 1960 mission originated in Peshawar, not Japan.
 
The President and the Helicopter. This was not widely publicized, but the hell with it. It was a mistake. The President had to take a motorcade from Andrews, since the helos were grounded. The media reported it the other way around and I bit on the item in a private e-mail which was subsequently further disseminated. Sorry. He was on the ground in the snow like all the rest of us in the blizzard. The astonishingly expensive follow-on Executive Helicopter which might have been able to fly in any weather was inserted by Congress into the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill over the objections of Secretary of Defense Gates and the President himself.
 
Single Payer for Health Care: This column alleged that Senate Majority Leader Reid had engineered specific deals to gain the votes needed to pass certain procedural votes on the way to ratification. Specifically, the payouts to the states of Nebraska and Louisiana were alleged to be the equivalent of 10% of the Defense budget. That would be absurd. Although the $600 million does not include additional specific provisions to senators from Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, even a billion or more dollars amounts to much less than one percent of the $636 billion dollar Defense Budget. Which is absurd. The "single payer" is you and me.
 
Global Warming: In several columns the term “global warming” was used in the context of the controversy over apparently tainted scientific methodology forming the basis of seminal and alarming work on global historical temperature variance. This is in error. Data derived from proxy plant species was combined with modern instrumental readings that were likewise smoothed by computer algorithm. A small corps of self-reviewed scientists publicized the combined results, which were widely adopted as ground truth. The upshot was creation of a trend that may, or may not, be accurate, and may, or may not, reflect regular cyclic activity. Since the tainted science must be re-examined, the term “Global Climate Change” has been adopted reinforce the imperative for decisive action, even if we are not precisely sure what is going on with our long suffering planet. The previous term is anachronistic and does not reflect the latest thinking of the scientific community, which is thinking about how to get the story straight.
 
This is by no means a comprehensive list of controversial or careless errata which has crept into the reporting stream. Management wishes to convey the story that there “has been hell to pay” in the corporate offices and they are seriously- very seriously- considering revising the policy about drinking during working hours, holidays or not.

Copyright 2009 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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