A long and deeply deeply distressing article by Sydney H. Schanberg seems to make it clear that American POWS were left behind in Vietnam and that GOP nominee John McCain has been deeply involved in a bipartisan cover-up: McCain and the POW Cover-up; The “war hero” candidate buried information about POWs left behind in Vietnam, The Nation Institute, September 18, 2008.

As I noted in the spring, Congressional Republicans have long been unhappily aware that McCain’s POW record, which is what he seems to want to run on, might be swiftboatable. I added:

I don’t know what the truth is. But I do know that, nearly twenty years ago, William Stevenson, author of the huge spy best-seller A Man Called Intrepid, and his co-author and wife Monika Jensen, were privately expressing puzzlement at finding in their research for their Kiss the Boys Goodbye: The Shocking Story of Abandoned U.S. Prisoners of War in Vietnam, that McCain had emerged as an opponent of efforts to solve the MIA conundrum.

I suspected the McCain’s awareness of the need to parry a possible “October Surprise” was the reason for his jarring and unnecessary reference to breaking under torture in his acceptance speech.

I still don’t know what the truth is. But this, from Schanberg’s article, might be a place to start:

On November 11, 1992, Dolores Alfond, the sister of missing airman Capt. Victor Apodaca and chair of the National Alliance of Families, an organization of relatives of POW/MIAs, testified at one of the Senate committee’s public hearings. She asked for information about data the government had gathered from electronic devices used in a classified program known as PAVE SPIKE.

The devices were motion sensors, dropped by air, designed to pick up enemy troop movements. Shaped on one end like a spike with an electronic pod and antenna on top, they were designed to stick in the ground as they fell. Air Force planes would drop them along the Ho Chi Minh trail and other supply routes. The devices, though primarily sensors, also had rescue capabilities. Someone on the ground—a downed airman or a prisoner on a labor gang —could manually enter data into the sensor. All data were regularly collected electronically by US planes flying overhead. Alfond stated, without any challenge or contradiction by the committee, that in 1974, a year after the supposedly complete return of prisoners, the gathered data showed that a person or people had manually entered into the sensors—as US pilots had been trained to do—”no less than 20 authenticator numbers that corresponded exactly to the classified authenticator numbers of 20 US POWs who were lost in Laos.” Alfond added, according to the transcript: “This PAVE SPIKE intelligence is seamless, but the committee has not discussed it or released what it knows about PAVE SPIKE.”

McCain attended that committee hearing specifically to confront Alfond because of her criticism of the panel’s work. He bellowed and berated her for quite a while. His face turning anger-pink, he accused her of “denigrating” his “patriotism.” The bullying had its effect—she began to cry.

After a pause Alfond recovered and tried to respond to his scorching tirade, but McCain simply turned away and stormed out of the room. The PAVE SPIKE file has never been declassified. We still don’t know anything about those twenty POWs.

That hearing must have been recorded. If it confirms Schanberg’s account, McCain has questions to answer.

And while we’re at it, what about declassifyng that PAVE SPIKE file?

Galareka Harrison is a Navajo Indian girl who was convicted of stabbing her college roommate (also a Navajo Indian) 23 times,. Of course, none of the headlines in the stabbing case mention this basic fact, but since it’s an important part of the story, (both girls lived on the reservation when not at college) they mention it inside the story, referring to her, however, not as an Indian or a Native American but as a “Navajo tribal member,” which is a new euphemism on me.

Teen smiles after she’s convicted of killing roommate
CNN.COm

September 19, 2008

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) — A 19-year-old woman was convicted Friday of murdering her roommate in their University of Arizona dorm room by stabbing her 23 times.

Galareka Harrison made no expression as the jury’s verdict was read. She was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Mia Henderson, a fellow Navajo tribal member from northern Arizona. She was also found guilty of three counts of forgery and one count of identity theft.After court recessed, she gave a wan smile, stood up and put on a black coat before being led out of the courtroom by jailers.[More]

In a discrimination case, which probably deserves a post of its own, the

NMSU faculty members charge racial discrimination
By HEATHER CLARK Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 09/19/2008 03:34:57 PM MDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Four current and former New Mexico State University faculty members and a graduate student have filed a lawsuit in federal court charging university administrators with racial discrimination and unfair professional retaliation.

Four plaintiffs allege they were racially and sexually discriminated against in the university’s Department of Health Science and then lost their positions or were denied promotions after they complained about the problems, the 37-page complaint said.

The plaintiffs include faculty members Satya Rao, who is East Indian; former faculty members Yelena Bird, who is black, and her husband, John Moraros, who is of Greek and Hispanic descent; and graduate student Freedom Cheteni, who is from Zimbabwe. [More]

Freedom Cheteni is also black, but they don’t say that. Someone who wasn’t up on geography and tribal names might think that Mr. Cheteni was being discriminated against because he was a foreigner. The most important thing about Zimbabwe/Rhodesia is the white/black conflict, and they should say which he is.

I first learned that George Putnam had passed away from Joe Guzzardi’s blog entry R.I.P. George Putnam, (1914-2008) R.I.P. and I too wish to bid George farewell.

Known as the Dean of Talk Radio, George Putnam was a Midwesterner who moved to California, a World War II veteran, news anchorman and long-time talk radio host. George appeared in the movies from time to time and had his own star in Hollywood. On his ranch, he raised racehorses and rode in the Rose Bowl parade for many years. Click here for a retrospective video on Putnam’s career, including a cameo appearance by Ronald Reagan, another Midwesterner who made the big time in California.

Besides all his other accomplishments , George Putnam was out in front on the issue of illegal immigration, speaking out on the issue years before many of us even had a clue.

I had the privilege of appearing a number of times on George’s “Talk Back” show. The last time I was on his show was on March 31st.

When I was a guest on “Talk Back”, we would usually discuss one of my recent VDARE.COM articles. I always had to be ready, though, because the conversation could go anywhere.

It was always great to be on the show with George, whose inquisitiveness and sense of humor made it a real lark. It always seemed to go so quickly. Time flies, as they say, when you’re having fun, and it was fun being on the show.

In our “Talk Back” interviews, George would always ask about my family, referring to my wife and children (David and Raphael) by name, and would ask how they were doing. One time he even had my son David say a few words on the air. And, after hearing our dog barking from the patio, George would ask about her also.

After I had to leave home for my Iraq deployment, George actually called my home to speak with my wife Lilia, to ask her how she and the boys were doing. It was a tough time for our family, so I really appreciate George’s concern.

It’s tough to say farewell to George Putnam. I think the best way to honor him is emulate his love of country and his courage in speaking out against its ongoing invasion. That’s what George did so well for years.