Recall the Sandy Berger scandal that seemed to do an emergency deep dive under the surface of the mainstream media before it could be fully developed in the press? Well, looks like the man will get a slap on the wrist from the U.S. Justice Department for finally admitting to (after a flurry of initial denials) having purposefully removed classified documents from the National Archives, some documents of which were hidden in his clothing!

Tell me, why do we need a “Freedom of Information Act” if all you risk is a misdemeanor by removing classified materials in the pockets of your cargo pants?

Just another fine example of “Homeland Security.”

UPDATE: The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the plea bargain deal, which must be approved by the court, exempts Berger from any jail time for his misdemeanor offense. He’ll only have to pay a fine of $10,000 and surrender his security clearance for three years. Meanwhile …

He returned most of the documents, but still missing are some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration’s handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration.

Looks like the Justice Department really played hardball.

The following statement of the Schindler family is courtesy of the BlogsforTerri site.

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March 31, 2005

Statement of the Schindler Family

Pinellas Park, FL – As you are aware, Terri is now with God and she has been released from all earthly burdens. After these recent years of neglect at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and care for her, she is finally at peace with God for eternity. We are speaking on behalf of our entire family this evening as we share some thoughts and messages to the world regarding our sister and the courageous battle that was waged to save her life from starvation and dehydration.

We have a message for the volunteers that have helped our family:

Thank you for all that you’ve done for our family. Thank you to the hundreds of doctors who volunteered to help Terri. Thank you to the fifty doctors who provided statements under oath to help Terri. Thank you to the lawyers who stood for Terri’s life in the courtrooms of our nation. From running our family’s website, to driving us around, to making meals, to serving in so many ways—thank you to all of the volunteers who have been so kind to our family through all of this.

We have a message for the supporters and people praying worldwide:

Please continue to pray that God gives grace to our family as we go through this very difficult time. We know that many of you never had the privilege to personally know our wonderful sister, Terri, but we assure you that you can be proud of this remarkable woman who has captured the attention of the world. Following the example of the Lord Jesus, our family abhors any violence or any threats of violence. Threatening words dishonor our faith, our family, and our sister, Terri. We would ask that all those who support our family be completely kind in their words and deeds toward others.

We have a message to the media:

We appreciate your taking Terri’s case to the nation. Please afford our family privacy to grieve at this time.The patience and graciousness of the on-site media here at hospice has been deeply appreciated by our family.

We have a message to the many government officials who tried to help Terri:

Thank you for all that you’ve done. Our family will be forever grateful to all of the outstanding public servants who have tried to save Terri.

We have a message to all of the religious leaders who tried to help Terri:

Thank you to all people of faith who demonstrated love for Terri and strength of conviction to defend the sacredness of all human life as a precious gift from God.

Our family is highly honored that the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, would speak out so boldly on behalf of our sister, Terri.

We have a message of forgiveness:

Throughout this ordeal, we are reminded of the words of Jesus on the cross: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Our family seeks forgiveness for anything that we have done in standing for Terri’s life that has not demonstrated the love and compassion required of us by our faith.

We have a message to parents worldwide:

Our family would encourage parents to spend time with their children and to cherish each and every moment of each and every day with them as a precious gift from God.

We have a message to Terri from her family:

As a member of our family unable to speak for yourself, you spoke loudly. As a member of our family unable to stand under your own power, you stood with a grace and a dignity that made your family proud. Terri, we love you dearly, but we know that God loves you more than we do. We must accept your untimely death as God’s will.

Terri, your life and legacy will continue to live on, as the nation is now awakened to the plight of thousands of voiceless people with disabilities that were previously unnoticed. Your family intends to stand up for the other “Terri’s” around this nation and we will do all that we can to change the law so others won’t face the same fate that has befallen you.

We have a final thought to share:

Our family had hoped this day would never come, but as it has now arrived, we ask ourselves a question in these incredibly sad circumstances: What would the Lord Jesus ask us to do in a moment like this? In John’s Gospel, Jesus responded to the questions of the rabbis, who asked why a man had been born blind. He said: “it is so that the works of God might be made manifest through him.”

God’s plan for Terri is unfolding before our eyes. Our prayer at this time is that our Nation will remember the plight of persons with disabilities and commit within our hearts to defend their lives and their dignity for many generations to come.

Please click here and pray for Theresa and the Schindler family, while commemorating her life — a life that should have been saved, rather than snuffed out.

May her soul rest in peace.

This CNN story on the Pope’s condition, citing an unnamed Vatican source, has been linked by Matt Drudge.

UPDATE: This story out of Reuters, in which the Pontiff’s condition is now listed as “very grave,” is most disturbing. It’s midnight here in southeast Texas and I fear I may awake to news of Pope John Paul’s death.

The day that we have long dreaded has arrived. Michael Schiavo, attorney George Felos, and Judge George Greer have prevailed. So, too, have the forces of nihilism that sadly abound in this country.

Theresa Maria Schindler Schiavo is dead.

God have mercy on her soul.

That this 41-year old woman — handicapped, cognitively-disabled, but a joy to her parents, brother, and sister, and an inspiration to those of us who loved and fought for her — died in such an inhumane, appalling manner is a dark stain on American jurisprudence. Beyond that, her death represents one of the gravest examples of man’s inhumanity to man this country has ever known. Indeed, in a country known for its boundless charity and heartfelt compassion, there was neither for Theresa from those who sought her demise. In a country in which the “Declaration of Independence” was nobly authored, death was ignobly authored by the courts.

But, I tell you, this death will not soon be forgotten. I tell you, this death will never be forgotten.

It is a sad, sad day in America. It truly is. It profoundly is. Because evil has won over good.

The dark side of secularism was effectively summoned and did its dark deed. A philandering, cold-as-steel husband, who found steadfast accomplices in black robes, was able to have his hapless, helpless wife — a wife he deserted for another, but refused ever to divorce — put to death by refusing her food and water. Just as he coldly euthanized his wife’s cats, so too did he direct the death of the woman he took vows with years ago to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and in health, ’til death do they part.

But Michael chose to part from Terri in a much different, more dastardly way, while seeking her death and while sleeping with another. And that is not a marriage. That is not a bond. That is not the love of which the poets write. No, that is an abomination. That is a sinister, ghastly form of selfishness that good men find incomprehensible and women should fear.

Michael, it most assuredly can be said, proved far sicker than his wife ever was. All Bob and Mary Schindler wanted was to be given legal guardianship of their daughter, so Michael could move on with his life, his girlfriend, and his two children by her. They just wanted to love their daughter, care for their daughter, and try to give her, as parents, what Michael refused her — much-needed medical tests, rehabilitative therapy, dental care, and a long overdue dose of sunlight, fresh air, and warm affection. The Schindlers wanted no more than to rescue their daughter from years of lock-down confinement in a grim hospice room; to provide her a real home, real tenderness, and a place to live that was alive with life, rather than encircled by death.

But Michael would have none of that. No, Michael wanted something far different. He wanted “the bitch” dead, he wanted her body cremated, he wanted her ashes placed in the ground well before her time had come, long before God would have called her. And, were this not callous and calculating enough, Michael wanted those ashes far removed from his in-laws, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. What he made difficult for the Schindlers while Terri was alive, he now wants to make more difficult after her death. His malice knows no bounds. This sad excuse for a man even denied the family their poignant request to be at Terri’s side when her breathing expired and her spirit slipped away. Cruelty, thy name is Michael Schiavo.

And what did this brutality, this barbarism, this pulling of the feeding tube, all come down to? Because a court-appointed neurologist testified that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state and much of her cerebral cortex had liquified? Is that sufficient cause in this country to execute someone and in a manner deemed unfit and, constitutionally, “cruel and unusual” even for our nation’s most egregious killers? Must a life that is compromised be compromised altogether? Is death the sentence now for being different? If fetuses aren’t sentient, if they’re not real persons, if they’re erroneously deemed incapable of pain, if they’re expendable as a matter of convenience, is such a diminution of life and God’s creations not now the order of the day for the elderly, the handicapped, the cognitively-disabled, the people in wheel chairs, in hospital beds, and warehoused because they are mentally challenged? Does taking life in such a grotesque way and for such unconscionable reasons hold no more import than weeding one’s garden?

Tell me, if you’re a nihilist, a non-believer, a right-to-die proponent, a champion of euthanasia, an apologist for mercy killing, a liberal Democrat with a deaf ear and a camouflage suit, an out of sight, out of mind type — tell me why Michael’s empty heart wasn’t cause enough to starve and dehydrate him to death, too? If a suspect brain has become the sin quo non to a court-ordered death, than why has not a suspect heart? Why is Michael Schiavo deified by you people who callously called Terri Schiavo a “potted plant” and so disrespected her value to society, her parents, and her siblings? Why was her death so damn important to you? Why was the concept of “beyond a reasonable doubt” not reaffirmed, rather than discarded, just as Terri’s life was? So many questions; so many chances missed; so much passion expended just to kill someone.

So now she’s gone from us. And a portion of this country’s humanity has died with her. But we who champion life over death are comforted in knowing her soul has passed to a place that requires neither mercy, nor suffers the caprice of men in black robes or the calumny of fools. Theresa becomes in death the beauty who was shattered by the laws; but a woman, nonetheless, for whom our memories will form a furious fight for justice, the rights of natural law, and of nature’s God.

Some may have won the battle, Theresa, but others will win the war. Others will win the war.

Well, it appears I have some company in support of what I wrote yesterday regarding Jesse Jackson’s so-called better-late-than-never appearance outside of Terri Schindler Schiavo’s hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, and his subsequent unproductive meetings in Tallahassee with Florida Governor Jeb Bush and some of the Florida state senators who voted against legislation that might have saved Terri’s life.

Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny), views Mr. Jackson’s belated entry into the fray as self-serving.

He is using this case to get himself back in the news, just as he has done in the Michael Jackson molestation case.

Until Jesse Jackson repents for condoning the culture of death and the killing of millions of black babies in the black women’s womb, he cannot be trusted.

But, while the good reverend’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Terri Schiavo were, alas, all for naught, it appears to have led to the emergence of an interesting pair of bedfellows amid the woof and warp of this ongoing controversy. Sean Hannity has wholeheartedly endorsed Jesse Jackson’s efforts on behalf of Bob and Mary Schindler. Who would have ever thought?

I don’t think so, not on the thorny, but all too clear problem of illegal immigration. And I agree wholeheartedly with Frank Laughter that the sudden decision of the president’s to place 500 additional U.S. Border Patrol agents on the Arizona-Mexico border is not driven by a newfound recognition of this country’s preeminent national security problem.

No, it came instead on the heels of a recent meeting with Presidente Vicente Fox at Baylor University and with a serious problem looming that U.S. citizens’ efforts to do what the government and both major political parties refuse to do may turn into a bloodbath. Add to that fact that Fox had the gaul to demand intervention by Bush in heading off the Minutemen and in protecting the rights of illegals and you understand, in part at least, what has motivated the president.

It would be a lot more reassuring to know that George Bush had come to his senses and had begun recognizing the illegal immigration problem for what it is and the egregiously reckless situation in which he and the Congress had placed U.S. Border Patrol officers. But don’t hold your breath.

After all, if a presidential epiphany had occurred or was on the immediate horizon, a conservative journalist-blogger like Michelle Malkin would not have felt compelled to organize a new group blog to focus exclusively on illegal immigration.

The nation is being poorly served by President Bush in terms of its border security and the Department of Homeland Security will never be taken seriously until those borders have been secured.

Justin Katz, among my favorite writers in the blogosphere, points in this post to his blog’s slippage in John Hawkin’s quarterly ranking of his “40 Favorite Blogs” and seems dismayed that he’s been unable to do more writing of late and laments that his talent (which I think is considerable) has not been on display sufficiently to sustain his popularity (at least with John). Well, if “A Certain Slant of Light” was wedged in between any two sets of blogs on Mr. Hawkin’s list (or even dead last, for that matter), this writer would be proud as punch.

Interesting, isn’t it, that in revealing both a bit of discouragement in where “Dust In The Light” landed, while noting how the “circumstantial perceptions” of others may well distort our own essential value as human beings, Justin arrives at a sublime truth: that despite such misappraisals, real or perceived, we are all — each and every one of us — equal in the sight of God and our fundamental humanity cannot be depreciated or distorted no matter whether the trappings of what we do in life or the occasional honors bestowed upon us are humble or extravagant.

In this regard, there was no dust in the light in the crystal clarity of Justin’s observations. Keep writing, Justin, whenever and wherever you’re able to!

It’s the photograph of Mary Schindler’s heartache more than the CNN news story itself about yet another federal appeals court loss for the Schindlers that grips me this afternoon. After all, there are not enough fingers and toes to count all the times that they’ve gotten their noses bloodied in this ever-protracted legal fight to save their daughter Terri’s life. How do they withstand judge after judge after judge refusing their motions? This last from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seems particularly cruel.

Were I Bob Schindler, I would have gotten the message some time ago and would have ceased the futile legal efforts in this case that are destined for ineluctable rejection. And, I most certainly wouldn’t have called in the likes of Jessie Jackson in the 11th hour, as in my mind his moral standing in this country has long since diminished.

But, I’m not Bob Schindler and it is not my daughter who is being killed inhumanely by the state, so unless one has walked a mile in his shoes, it is too easy to question his tactics and those of his attorneys. Desperation at the horror of a dying daughter must make the mind race for ways out of that hellish travesty of justice that is claiming his Theresa.

UPDATE: The Schindlers will be making yet another appeal to the United States Supreme Court following their loss before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. There’s no quit in this family, but you must wonder why they persist in going to the men in the black robes.

FURTHER UPDATE: The United States Supreme Court has declined to intervene for the sixth time! Surely all legal appeals have been exhausted now.

If there is anything honorable in this otherwise dishonorable man, at least this former Boy Scouts of America high-ranking official, Douglas S. Smith, Jr., plead guilty to child pornography charges and did not seek a plea bargain from prosecutors, according to the Associated Press.

Nor did Douglas Smith suggest that he is somehow being persecuted and is the equivalent of well-known public figures who have been vindicated after politically-motivated or vindictive assaults on their beliefs and personal character. Indeed, Mr. Smith has been described as contrite, which is more than can be said for other men who have worked with and been around young boys as trusted adult figures, while harboring stashes of child pornography.

It just goes to prove there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide for children these days, and adults and adolescents alike must be ever vigilant. It’s sad that we must teach our children and grandchildren to be wary, but to do otherwise is to deny the reality that exists. Predators and potential predators lurk in our neighborhoods and even within our noblest, long-standing institutions, and it is just a damn shame that the innocence of childhood has itself now become a liability.

My goodness, such dreadful, draconian tactics from an otherwise classy lady? First there was her thought of brandishing a stun gun. Next she thought she’d drop her weapon, but maybe hurl some fruit at us if we weren’t compliant. Now Corie of “Insane Troll Logic” is brushing up on KGB-style interrogation tactics for her upcoming stint as moderator of a “Blogging The Revolution” panel discussion at Houston Community College next Tuesday, April 5th, for which I’m a designated panelist (and erstwhile lab rat).

Corie is an English professor and is hoping that she can force one of the four panelists — Jack Cluth, Chris Doelle, Robin Reagler, or yours truly — to “cry out for mercy.”

Well, seeing she is well-steeped in English Literature, I had better find an approriate way to let her know it will not be me among the group who will desparately plead for sanctuary:

There’s an early scene in the movie, “The Gladiator,” in which the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ son Commodus reveals his essential character flaw and why, while bloodline heir to his father’s throne, he’ll nonetheless be passed over. Maximus, a beloved general in Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ army has just led his troops to a magnificent defeat of the fearsome barbarians of Germania and with Marcus Aurelius looking on in admiration of not only Maximus’ splendid generalship, but his unwavering, son-like loyalty to him. As the two men — Caesar and his triumphant general — stroll together through the ranks of victorious Roman legions, there suddenly appears out of nowhere on a hard-charging, white stallion none other than Commodus, resplendent in full body armor. Commodus leaps from his horse, rushes up to his father, and breathlessly asks: “Have I missed it — have I missed the battle?” To which Marcus Aurelius responds contemptuously: “You have missed the war!”

That scene and Commodus’ pusillanimity came to mind this morning as I read the reports of Reverend Jessie Jackson’s belated entry into the fight to save Terri Schindler Schiavo’s life. He’s arrived in time to still get sufficient camera time before a vulturous worldwide press — as is his proclivity — but likely to accomplish little else, as Terri completes her 12th day without food or water. And, to be sure, he’s arrived at the behest of the Schindler family and their late-inning appeal to him, although that desparate importunity seems to have been lost in the shuffle of the auspicious opportunity afforded him for showboating. If Jackson regards himself as a moral force, then where was he early on when he might have been of use to the pro-life forces? If, in Jackson’s own words, the Terri Schiavo case is “one of the profound moral and ethical issues of our time,” then why was he not compelled of his own volition to enter the fray much earlier when he might have accomplished something meaningful for her, rather than just for himself? He says he cares. Why does he care now in the final days and hours of the death watch?

A typical example of Jackson’s self-aggrandizing grandstanding were his unsuccessful efforts yesterday to enter the Woodside Hospice and assist a Catholic priest in giving Terri Communion. Was this necessary? After all, where was he the day Terri’s feeding tube was removed by order of Circuit Court Judge George Greer and the “Last Rites” of the Church administered to her? And to be calling Governor Jeb Bush (and waiting for a return call) to imply to the press that his lobbying of Florida’s Senators has been more productive than the governor’s smacks of petty politics. It’s highly questionable at this point that his 11th hour lobbying can accomplish anything anyway!

Jesse Jackson has run for the Democratic Party’s nomination more than once hoping to win the ultimate brass ring — the presidency of the United States. In doing so, he has been willing, as a minister of the church, to represent a party platform supportive of abortion rights. So how can abortion be acceptable to him in the context of his political aspirations, but Terri Schiavo’s court-ordered death unacceptable in the context of his ministry? It’s not just center-right Republicans like myself asking that question. Jackson’s histrionics are a most unwelcome addition to what should be the solemnity of the moment, as a handicapped woman’s life is snuffed out by the state of Florida.

UPDATE: Jessie admits to failure in belated efforts. But, he garnered a lot of publicity and his morality meter probably enjoyed an uptick. (HAT TIP: ProLifeBlogs)

“Blogger” was down most of the day today and that is why I haven’t been posting. I’ve spoken with several of its users and they’ve experienced similar problems in trying to publish and edit. The system has been real quirky. The “Blogger” service has been on again, off again, for much too long now — at least the past three weeks. It’s getting old. I hope their technicians are able to get things rectified in short order, because it is taking the joy out of blogging. I’ve even lost entire posts and now must copy each and every post to Notepad in advance of trying to publish, as you never know what is going to happen.

Thanks for coming by today! My readers are probably more patient than is this writer and for that I am most appreciative.

Frank Laughter of Common Sense Junction provides his readers in this thought-provoking post with a link to a Florida attorney’s insight into why Terri Schiavo is being starved and dehydrated by court order (namely, that the Schindlers have been thoroughly out-lawyered all along the way, but particularly at the critical beginning of this case, by Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos). Tell me where in the MSM you’ve read or heard anything like this? Frank’s readers are also treated to a well-done account of the famous Karen Ann Quinlan case.

One thing about Frank is whether he is expressing his view(s) on a subject or providing links to support his thesis, he doesn’t pull any punches. You know where he stands and you can follow his line of reasoning. That’s why I am a regular reader of his blog! I don’t care much for fence-sitters and writers who equivocate.

It appears that Corie Schweitzer of Insane Troll Logic has heard me and is now forsaking the use of a stun gun and instead will likely be packing Texas-size grapefruit, as moderator of “Blogging The Revolution,” in order to keep her intractable panelists in line. As for the notion that her hand-picked panelists may show up pajama-clad, well, I don’t cotton to pajamas unless the Houston Community College’s coeds, who will be in attendance, insist we all wear them! Ooops, now the panel discussion might segue from blogging to sexual harrassment. Mea culpa! I withdraw my impolitic comment and promise to don raimant suitable for this august occasion — maybe slacks and a polo shirt bearing an FEC logo. See ya there, Corie!