No Easy Day . . . During An Election Year

"No Easy Day," a book detailing the raid in which United States Navy SEALs violated Pakistani sovereignty, and ended in the death of Osama bin Laden, will be released September 4, 2012.  Hyped as much by the fact that it's pseudonymous author, "Mark Owen" has been outed as Matt Bissonnette, the book purports to divulge secrets that contradict official reports by the Obama administration.  According to the Washington Post, Pentagon officials have begun pursuing legal measures against Bissonnette.

Those are some of the more tawdry details.  What I find fascinating is a comment made by Fox News Executive Vice President and Executive Editor John Moody who declared authors of books have no expectation of privacy.  The Associated Press and others have gone on record saying that (to paraphrase) once the horse is out of the barn don't bother shutting the door.  Once Bissonnette's name was broadcast it was no longer necessary to protect his identity.  Others, notably CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager, who took pains to hide Bissonnette's identity in his outlets, despite the leak elsewhere.  I admire his moral courage.  While I personally side with the AP (as you can clearly see in this post), Fager makes a remarkable point in this day and age of WikiLeaks and information overload: Sometimes you should stick to your guns because it's the right thing to do.

This is an election year.  As such, it's a year wherein normally even-minded people will resort to name-calling and emotional terrorism in order to prove they're right.  I can't wholly abstain, though I'll try.  Living in a dual-party political system has its advantages, but one of the disadvantages is that once the nominees are locked in, they're basically all you've got. 

Someone once exhorted me to write in my own name on the ballot if I didn't like either candidate, and he was excoriated for his call to "split the vote."  Indeed, there's some wisdom in this; we're reminded that the lesser of two evils is the better deal.  Really?  Maybe you've heard that cliche so many times that it has lost its meaning.  Because what you're telling me is still to pick an evil.  Something that no good and right person should ever willingly choose.

We've been told that the only way for evil to exist is for a good men to do nothing.  Or maybe just to choose the lesser of the evils.  Maybe it is time to stand up and say no to both.  Perhaps we won't win.  Perhaps the path is narrow, but surely it's better than that grand boulevard heading to hell.  So, way to go, Fager, for sticking to your guns and deciding to keep Bissonnette's name confidential.  And go ahead, all you anonymous vote-splitters.  Show us what courage looks like.  And hey, buy "Mark Owen's" book; it'll help him pay his legal bills.