Kenneth Ellman

Where Did He Come From? Kenneth Ellman on Tom Watson, M.P. and News International.
Copyright 2012, Kenneth Ellman, All Rights Reserved.

There are times when one amongst us speaks publically or privately and his words have a compelling and haunting pull. The pull is towards something we call the truth which is altogether too hard to find and so much easier to avoid. The truth is not necessarily so hard to find because it is difficult to see, no. The problem is that the truth has a funny aspect to it. It is the aspect that once you know the truth is may cause you to act in a manner that can personally set you apart from those around you. This is particularly so when such knowledge of the truth makes you feel that you are compelled to act. There are times you do not want to act fully and completely and pay the price of such action. However the alternative to knowing the truth and finding reasons not to know is just too high a price to pay for some of us. The sense of personal security and comfort, by avoiding confrontation may be desired, but is not enough for all of us. Some do not want to block out the light of day. The truth may not always be comfortable, but for some of us the alternative is worse. We must remember that sometimes the truth can make us better than we were before. This is whether such speech is directed to a nation or an individual. Perhaps when it is directed to both it rings ever louder than might otherwise be the case.

SO NOW we reach your friend and mine Tom Watson, Member of Parliament of Great Britain, who by his speech helps a little bit to keep the word Great in Britain. Speaking of his view of what the Report on Rupert Murdoch and the News International by one of the select committees of the House of Commons revealed he stated a little bit of the Truth and you could watch many within his distance get very uncomfortable in their chairs.

To those who are following the incredible change of fortune of Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation, etc., we have much to read and understand as to how a democracy in a powerful and free nation can be so debased and degraded by an aggressive man and his news reporting business. Perhaps as was hinted at by Tom Watson, M.P. , fear, fear amongst those who lacked the confidence in their own beliefs and values played a strong role. If you do not have a strong belief in the ideas that define you as an individual, then the wayward beliefs and push of others may overcome the natural inclination of most of us to avoid wrongdoing and act as we know we should. I have learned over the many years to try and follow a simple rule: If you would be ashamed to have your children and grandchildren know what you do or did, then stop and don’t do it. A hard rule but a good one.

Here in America, from time to time, but sadly not often enough, a political figure speaks in a voice that echos through all of us and to which we know his words are our words. So here it goes,
the British Member of Parliament, TOM WATSON speaks about the findings of his Committee on the conduct of Rupert Murdoch, News International, etc. :

“The Truth is that… These people corrupted our country, they brought shame on our Police Force and our Parliament, they lied and cheated, blackmailed and bullied and we should all be ashamed when we think how we cowered before them for so long.”

These words by M.P. Watson are words that all those residing in a Democracy should never forget. These words combine courage and decency as did his whole speech, with the responsibility to uphold and protect the integrity of our law. They are as applicable to the United States as to our grandfather Great Britain. Here they refer to the injury done by a private business to a nation. But the real failure that Watson and his Committee revealed is that of the government and political leadership itself. Such is just as applicable to our failings here in the United States. The extraordinary revelations of what occurred in the prosecution of now deceased Senator Stevens by the Department of Justice (as set forth by the U.S.D.C. for the District of Columbia, Misc. 09-0198), the conduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Limone, Salvati, etc. case (as set forth by the U.S.D.C. for the District of Massachusetts, Civ. Action #02-10890), and so many others, remind us that failings are alive and well. One wonders if we could inculcate a love of our law and resistance to this degradation by making compulsory a learning of our legal system and Constitution and attaching a practical working knowledge of law to the education of all citizens. Yes, law is a business, a specialized business, but to those who are the victims of injustice and for the well being of our nation and community is it more, much more. When wealthy educated citizens who certainly know better such as Prosecutors, Law Enforcement, Business Leaders, Law Firms, Judges, and on and on, make conscious decisions to violate the ideas of law that hold our nation together we must ask why?
Unfortunately many do not like the answer and so we pay the never ending price of injustice.
Hear, hear Tom Watson!! Hear, hear.
Kenneth Ellman, email:ke@kennethellman.com, Newton, New Jersey 07860
Copyright 2012, Kenneth Ellman, All rights reserved.