Just a small update to my article on the Cato Institute hypocrites – you know, the folks who proclaim to be for individual liberty, but not when it comes to freedom of speech by one of their employees, even when he’s not speaking in an official capacity nor about any matter of which the Cato Institute has previously expressed any interest. Mr. Armentano has now written an article giving his side of the story:
Dom Armentano: UFOs and censorship — why Cato Institute dumped me
Telecom IS one of the areas in which the Cato Institute has weighed in with their opinions, and you get one guess whose side they are usually on. The next time they deem themselves worthy to pontificate about some matter, I hope someone reminds them that when you act in a manner that’s apparently contrary to your core principles, you shouldn’t expect people to take you seriously.
By the way, and for the record, I believe that Mr. Armentano is right on with regard to his views on UFO’s. I’ve never seen one, I don’t know what they are, I don’t know where they come from, and I’m certainly not so naive as to believe that if they are piloted by intelligent beings from elsewhere, those beings would necessarily tell the truth about their origins even if they did decide to land at the United Nations (however, it would be really interesting to compare their DNA to human DNA, and I suspect that’s exactly what some people fear would happen). But I do believe that the public deserves to be told the truth about what we know so far, and not be fed ridiculous stories about weather balloons and swamp gas (the latter is a local reference that will doubtless stir up memories for some southeast Michigan residents). I, for one, am so sick of our government lying to us about everything under the sun (and maybe things on the other side of it as well).
I have read a few articles and heard some comments that suggest that if the full truth ever comes out, a lot of current and former government officials could go to jail (in part because of the way certain “recovered technologies” were allegedly handed over to major corporations). I don’t know if there’s any truth to that either, but I believe that those who have a story to tell should be allowed to tell it, without being penalized for doing so. One of the big reasons that this country is in such a mess is that instead of putting a high value on telling the truth – a core value that most of us teach our children – we tend to penalize people who tell “the truth, and nothing but the truth” (even if it’s the truth as they perceive it) in any setting outside of a court of law or a Congressional investigation. In line with the topic of this blog, I wish someone would blow the whistle on how telecom-related legislation is actually created – I think I have a pretty good idea already, but I have no proof. It would be a lot more effective if, say, a former state legislator would go on the record about exactly how it came about that certain provisions got into the Michigan Telecommunications Act. But honestly, I expect we’ll see full disclosure on UFO’s before we’ll see that happen (which is to say, I’m not holding my breath).
