What Sandy Berger & Michael Schiavo Have in Common

4 March 2005

Sandy Berger, Kerry’s advisor and Clinton's National Security Advisor, admitted he stole and destroyed documents from the National Archives. This was a crime of momentous proportions because it involved national security and intelligence information. He will basically go unpunished. I say this because the penalty meted out to him is a far cry from what would have happened to the average person had they stolen classified documents. Michael Schiavo is a man who, according to the reports of nurses who were working in the facilities that housed his wife, intentionally caused her to endure years of neglect, the absence of common considerations for those unable to care for themselves. Such neglect is a crime in most states, but he will neither be charged with it nor suffer the penalties the average person would incur.

Why does Berger only get probation for stealing and destroying sensitive government documents for purely political purposes? And why does Michael Schiavo go unpunished for neglecting the needs of his wife? It is what they have in common, political connections and the fact those in power do not find it expedient to pursue them. In both cases something is being said about the justice system in this country. Our system of laws has a cancer that could be terminal when men can disregard the well being of others for their own, and their cronies, selfish interests with impunity.

Why hasn't the media exposed these egregious disregards of justice and told the true story? (Print and television media alike have less credibility than used car salesmen.) In the Schiavo case Fox News Channel decided to abandon its “fair and balanced” claim to fame and join its colleagues. It seems government and media, the friends of Berger and Schiavo, both want to silence bloggers now because the Internet is the last place you can get a realistic perspective on the truth. One more thing these two have in common.

The neglect of justice is more dangerous to the life of a country than the enemies at its borders. Great nations fall from within. Let justice flow down as waters.