- Slats Grobnik looked at the newspaper,
threw it into the dog pile and said:
-
- "Screw every last one of the them.
Not a damn bit a truth to any of it."
-
- Slats, an old time Chi-Town reader new
to cyberspace, then turned to his PC.
-
- "Some real news now."
-
- Within a matter of minutes, he threw
his size13 hard-soled shoe through the monitor screen, breaking it into
a million pieces. Slat's grand father, Otto, used to be a shoemaker before
the chain stores took over so the heel was solid as a rock and stuck in
the computer screen like a dart hitting a bulls-eye.
-
- This time, however, Slats, known for
speaking his mind, wasn't angered over the news at the Capitol Hill Blue
web site, the oldest political blurb on the internet, but at what the Bush
Boys were doing to freedom-minded journalist who ran the site, Doug Thompson,
as well as other journalists who write stories contrary to the Bush party
line
-
- "The son's a bitches are clampin'
down on everybody just like the Commie's and the Nazi's. Hell, if the Commies
think they can come walking down these Chicago streets, there are 200,000
licensed deer hunters in Wisconsin and Illinois waitin' for 'em,"
said Slats, who once told former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski to "go
to hell" at a Polish street dance near Wrigley Field.
-
- Slats, angry as hell over the state of
affairs in America, is one Chicagoan rallying behind Thompson and other
journalists caught in a vice-grip of the Bush administration, planning
to prosecute journalists who stray from neo con agenda and making them
examples in Bush's phony "war on terrorism."
-
- "Well, guess what? Come and get
me too. I'm standing with Thompson to the bitter end or to we put the the
White House criminals behind bars," said Slats, thinking how the late
syndicated columnist Mike Royko, Slat's long time hero who fought for the
little guy, would have had a field day with Bush, probably popping him
over the head with a beer bottle if he tried to suppress one of his stories.
-
- "And what's this crap with Hillary?
Nothin' but a back stabbing traitor. Now, they promised her the White House
for selling out on the American people. Hell, she used to live right down
the block from here and went to Maine East High School. Met Slick Willy
and that was the end of her."
-
- Regarding the Thompson crackdown,
Slats was hopping mad since Bush, according to Thompson, recently directed
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to use "whatever means at your disposal"
to wiretap, follow, harass and investigate journalists who have published
stories about the administration's illegal use of warrantless wiretaps,
use of faulty intelligence and anything else he deems "detrimental
to the war on terror."
-
- Thompson also reported, causing Slats
to throw his other shoe the TV set, that reporters for The New York Times
revealed the National Security Agency was monitoring phone calls and emails
of Americans, as officials at the Justice Department admit they are laying
"the groundwork for a grand jury that could lead to criminal charges."
Further, the Justice Department has been toying with using a pre-World
War I law to prosecute people who receive classified information, although
the law was aimed at military personnel not civilians.
-
- As Slats cooled down, sitting back for
coffee while he opened his mail, he noticed a letter postmarked from Washington
D.C. from the FBI stamped "National Security Letter.".
-
- It said:Dear Mr. Grobnik:
-
- Hope this correspondence finds you in
good health,
-
- As a part of the never-ending fight against
the war on terrorism, we are directing you to turn over your bank records,
credit card records, library cards, any records regarding your grand father,
Otto's shoe business and any other records and correspondence you once
may have had with the late syndicated columnist, Mike Royko.
-
- For National Security reasons, you are
put on notice not to tell anyone regarding the information requested or
the demands made herein.
-
- If we have not heard from you in 30 days
upon receipt, an official from Homeland Security will be paying you a visit.
-
- Thank you in advance for anticipated
cooperation.Before Slats could fully digest the content of the letter and
finish his coffee, he thought about the Capitol Hill Blue article, pointing
out the same letter was sent to Thompson:
-
- Thompson wrote:
-
- "In recent weeks, the FBI has issued
hundreds of "National Security Letters," directing employers,
banks, credit card companies, libraries and other entities to turn over
records on reporters. Under the USA Patriot Act, those who must turn over
the records are also prohibited from revealing they have done so to the
subject of the federal probes.
-
- "Just how widespread, and uncontrolled,
this latest government assault has become hit close to home last week when
one of the FBI's National Security Letters arrived at the company that
hosts the servers for this web site, Capitol Hill Blue.
-
- "The letter demanded traffic data,
payment records and other information about the web site along with information
on me, the publisher.
-
- Now that's a problem. I own the company
that hosts Capitol Hill Blue. So, in effect, the feds want me to turn over
information on myself and not tell myself that I'm doing it. You'd think
they'd know better.
-
- "I turned the letter over to my
lawyer and told him to send the following message to the feds:
-
- "Fuck you. Strong letter to follow."
-
- As Slats pulled his shoes out of the
computer and TV screen, he said while walking out the door,
-
- "Well said, Mr. Thompson. Well said."
-
- Editor's Note:
-
- Every once in a blue moon Greg visits
with Slats Grobnik from his hometown of Chicago and writes a column featuring
the man the late syndicated columnist, Mike Royko, made famous in his columns,
spanning more than four decades. Greg tries to keep the memory of Slats
alive in Mike's honor.
|
