11 July 2007

Sultry



The moisture is beading up on the inside of the windows at Big Pink. The humidity is approaching a gazillion percent, and the atmosphere is pregnant with change, since as we approach saturation it is going to fall out.

The people on the radio claim it is going to happen this afternoon. They being overly dramatic on that score, perhaps, since it is supposed to be sultry here this time of year. But there is a lot of drama going around. You may recall Jeane Palfrey's case: she is the latest semi-public servant who has gotten crosswise with the Justice Department. In her case, she has not leaked documents or lied to a Grand Jury. The Palfrey phone records were posted on the internet yesterday. It was an interesting development, since it was just the numbers, not associated with the names of the people who own them.

At least one Senator had the misfortune to be associated with a number, and I need not mention which Southern state he represents. His office released a statement saying he had come to terms with his conscience, and asked forgiveness of his wife, and is already prepared to move on with his life. It is a sort of express expiation, and I admire him for his efficiency.

Palfrey is the latest incarnation of the business-like procuresses who have been a grand tradition in Washington, every bit as vital to the capital as the lawmakers on the Hill. She was as much in the news as the Department of Homeland Security lately. It was a toss-up about dialing the list of numbers from her black book at random to see who might answer, or noting what Secretary Chertoff said to the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune yesterday. He mentioned that there might be an al Qaida cell on the way to the US to make some mischief, since “Terrorists do not take summer vacations.”

I would argue that they do. But certainly a little sultry weather would not put them off.

The Secretary reported his views exactly like the radio talked about the weather, which reflects a change in the way we view the threat. Weapons of mass destruction are one thing; physicians armed with SUVs and propane tanks from barbeque grills are another. We have enough people blowing themselves up while trying to grill in July that we probably wouldn't even notice.

Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's second-in-command, promised “something significant” for us on the tape he released last week, and he is a doctor, like the ones who tried to bomb London and crashed into the Glasgow airport. Accordingly, I take his diagnosis seriously. Perhaps he has something bigger in mind. If so, Mr. Chertoff did not disclose what it might be. If nothing happens aside from the odd tragic picnic, we will shrug and go on with the summer, not thinking that an intelligence triumph may have occurred.

Someone in the shadows might have been busted en route something awful. We will never know, since intelligence successes that are ballyhooed tend to eliminate the source that made it all possible. So I continue uneasy. Are we safe, or are we just sleepwalking through the sultry weather en route the next election?

It is more fun to speculate about Ms Palfrey, who has run a spirited defense with an offensive component. Like most people, Jeane is a complicated individual who is capable of compartmentalizing various aspects of her life.

She is an extremely private person, and her involvement with the celebrated firm of Pamela Martin & Associates was just one of the many - although significant - segments of the complex life she has lived over the past thirteen years. Her service in the capital this overlaps my last decade in the government, and all of the current Administration, some of whom doubtless own a few of the anonymous numbers, as are members of the loyal opposition.

As Lord Chesterfield observed, the cost of sex is damnable, the position ridiculous and the pleasure is fleeting. Yet is remains a necessary imperative for both rich and poor. It is only interesting in the rich, though, and that accounts for the venom of the media attention, particularly with the promise that a 'Who's Who List' would be in the evidence. Palfrey's legal staff preempted the trial and posted the list on their own.

"We are shocked, shocked, that sex happens in Washington," must less that it would be a commerical enterprise.

It is a yawner. Everything that happens here happens because of sex or money, both of which are the logical consequences of the exercise of power.

Jeane had maintained a certain circumspection in her personal life, as do many of us who must compartmentalize our activities into “public” and “private” sides. The human itch must be scratched, after all, and it occurs to me that civil arrangements to do so would reduce the number of wars and other acts of aggression that stem from repressed desire.

Sadly though, when the Government leaked the "unsigned" affidavit to the online tabloid rag last October, and the digital age worked its magic. Jeane's efforts to keep the business part of her life confidential came crashing down on her and the derision commenced, post haste.

As a matter of record, and relatively confident that my phone number is not going to be disclosed, I will say that Jeane provided a necessary service to the political class here. In fact, it actually could be construed as a National Security service, since reduction in tensions can make for streamlined decision-making.

Let me say this, on behalf of those who are still running scared, that Jeane ran a first-rate firm, with top quality associates patronized by some of the best people in this country as well as many prominent on the international scene. Like Ms. Biddle-Barrows, the Mayflower Madam of the 1980's, Jeane provided a service that she ran with ethics and grace for over a decade. In sum, Jeane was as much a public servant as anyone her in Baghdad on the Potomac, and I support her vigorous defense against the zealous Puritans at the Justice Department.
 
Out of respect for her family, I will have no further comment, unless one of “those numbers” turns up on the web. In that case, I ask your forgiveness in advance. I want to move on with my life.

Copyright 2007 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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