VA Nurse Investigated For Sedition After Writing Letter Critical Of Bush Admin...
A recent case begs the question: When a government worker criticizes our leaders, is it sedition?
by Dave Russell
published March 1, 2006 6:00 am
I have worked so many letters that I sometimes not only forget that people read them but that they can have consequences.
Laura Berg, a nurse at the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., got into hot water for writing a letter critical of the government that pays her salary. Like many, she fired off a missive disparaging the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
Among other things, she wrote: “Bush, Cheney, Chertoff, Brown and Rice should be tried for criminal negligence. ... We need to wake up and get real here, and act forcefully to remove a government administration playing games of smoke and mirrors and vicious deceit. Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times.”
Published in the Sept. 15-21 edition of the local weekly, “The Alibi,” it quickly led to the seizure of her computer at the VA. Officials alleged she had used that computer to write it and accused her of sedition.
Responding to her inquiry, human resources chief Mel Hooker acknowledged that Berg’s “… personal computer files did not contain the editorial letter written to the editor of the weekly Alibi.” But he didn’t apologize: “The Agency is bound by law to investigate and pursue any act which potentially represents sedition,” he wrote. “In your letter ... you declared yourself ‘as a VA nurse’ and publicly declared the Government which employs you to have ‘tragically misplaced priorities and criminal negligence’ and advocated, ‘act forcefully to remove a government administration playing games of smoke and mirrors and vicious deceit.’”
A group of politicians and lawyers have rallied around Berg, and if nothing else, hope to lay some ground rules for VA employees who feel like taking the First Amendment for a test drive.
***
It’s hard to imagine with the current events overload we’re subjected to in the modern United States, but somewhere on earth, newspapers are still this precious: “Fortunately, it being Thursday, this was the day of the arrival of the newspaper, a two-page, closely printed weekly sheet, that brought news of the rest of the country and far lands. Only one copy of the newspaper came to the fisherman of Shora. It passed from hand to hand until the village had literally read it to pieces. No dominoes this long evening! A man had to read the paper when it came — thoroughly, completely, down to the last inky word. But fast! Somebody else was waiting for it.
“The men read it out loud that Thursday evening so that busy wives and older children could share in it at one and the same time. They watched the clock as they read; by such an hour it had to be carried to the house next door.”
That’s an excerpt from the 1954 children’s novel, “The Wheel on the School,” by Dutch writer Meindert DeJong.
***
Speaking of children’s literature: it’s not magic, but Harry Potter keeps kids out of trouble. According to the British Medical Journal, on the weekends the last two Harry Potter books have been released, emergency room visits declined 40 percent.
***
Sadly, we lost another of our regular contributors last week, as Don H. Noakley of Fairview passed away. A veteran of Korea and Vietnam, Noakley wrote with a strong conservative voice. A search of our archive reveals about 20 submissions from Noakley that we printed over the last six years, following his retirement from a real estate career. His last submission, “Political correctness is a really sorry reason to limit common-sense profiling,” ran in October.
His obit last week suggested, “… memorials may be made to ABCCM, 30 Cumberland Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 or to one’s favorite charity.”
Our hearts go out to his family.
***
I worked here four and a half years without seeing the word “pluperfect” on a page. Then it appeared twice on the same Op/Ed page last Thursday, in a guest commentary from Dr. Thomas Smith and a syndicated column from Molly Ivins. For those who did not feel like fetching a dictionary, here is the definition: more than perfect; supremely accomplished; ideal.
***
Sometime next week, I am guessing that Editorial Page Editor Joy Franklin will write a column thanking our local columnists for their year of biweekly brilliance.
And well she should. From my perspective as point man for the locals, the program has been a smashing success. I measure that success not by content, but by noting that 99 percent of them came in before deadline with minimal error or fuss. The bar is set high for the next group of locals, a group we will introduce soon.
Readers can write to Russell at P.O. Box 2090, Asheville, N.C., 28802; phone him at 236-8973; or e-mail him at drussell@citizen-times.com.
Link Here
by Dave Russell
published March 1, 2006 6:00 am
I have worked so many letters that I sometimes not only forget that people read them but that they can have consequences.
Laura Berg, a nurse at the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., got into hot water for writing a letter critical of the government that pays her salary. Like many, she fired off a missive disparaging the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
Among other things, she wrote: “Bush, Cheney, Chertoff, Brown and Rice should be tried for criminal negligence. ... We need to wake up and get real here, and act forcefully to remove a government administration playing games of smoke and mirrors and vicious deceit. Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times.”
Published in the Sept. 15-21 edition of the local weekly, “The Alibi,” it quickly led to the seizure of her computer at the VA. Officials alleged she had used that computer to write it and accused her of sedition.
Responding to her inquiry, human resources chief Mel Hooker acknowledged that Berg’s “… personal computer files did not contain the editorial letter written to the editor of the weekly Alibi.” But he didn’t apologize: “The Agency is bound by law to investigate and pursue any act which potentially represents sedition,” he wrote. “In your letter ... you declared yourself ‘as a VA nurse’ and publicly declared the Government which employs you to have ‘tragically misplaced priorities and criminal negligence’ and advocated, ‘act forcefully to remove a government administration playing games of smoke and mirrors and vicious deceit.’”
A group of politicians and lawyers have rallied around Berg, and if nothing else, hope to lay some ground rules for VA employees who feel like taking the First Amendment for a test drive.
***
It’s hard to imagine with the current events overload we’re subjected to in the modern United States, but somewhere on earth, newspapers are still this precious: “Fortunately, it being Thursday, this was the day of the arrival of the newspaper, a two-page, closely printed weekly sheet, that brought news of the rest of the country and far lands. Only one copy of the newspaper came to the fisherman of Shora. It passed from hand to hand until the village had literally read it to pieces. No dominoes this long evening! A man had to read the paper when it came — thoroughly, completely, down to the last inky word. But fast! Somebody else was waiting for it.
“The men read it out loud that Thursday evening so that busy wives and older children could share in it at one and the same time. They watched the clock as they read; by such an hour it had to be carried to the house next door.”
That’s an excerpt from the 1954 children’s novel, “The Wheel on the School,” by Dutch writer Meindert DeJong.
***
Speaking of children’s literature: it’s not magic, but Harry Potter keeps kids out of trouble. According to the British Medical Journal, on the weekends the last two Harry Potter books have been released, emergency room visits declined 40 percent.
***
Sadly, we lost another of our regular contributors last week, as Don H. Noakley of Fairview passed away. A veteran of Korea and Vietnam, Noakley wrote with a strong conservative voice. A search of our archive reveals about 20 submissions from Noakley that we printed over the last six years, following his retirement from a real estate career. His last submission, “Political correctness is a really sorry reason to limit common-sense profiling,” ran in October.
His obit last week suggested, “… memorials may be made to ABCCM, 30 Cumberland Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 or to one’s favorite charity.”
Our hearts go out to his family.
***
I worked here four and a half years without seeing the word “pluperfect” on a page. Then it appeared twice on the same Op/Ed page last Thursday, in a guest commentary from Dr. Thomas Smith and a syndicated column from Molly Ivins. For those who did not feel like fetching a dictionary, here is the definition: more than perfect; supremely accomplished; ideal.
***
Sometime next week, I am guessing that Editorial Page Editor Joy Franklin will write a column thanking our local columnists for their year of biweekly brilliance.
And well she should. From my perspective as point man for the locals, the program has been a smashing success. I measure that success not by content, but by noting that 99 percent of them came in before deadline with minimal error or fuss. The bar is set high for the next group of locals, a group we will introduce soon.
Readers can write to Russell at P.O. Box 2090, Asheville, N.C., 28802; phone him at 236-8973; or e-mail him at drussell@citizen-times.com.
Link Here
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