From today's Writers' Almanac

Miguel de Cervantes said, "Too much sanity may be madness, and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."

After the hearing

Well, it may be that there will never be a trial. Who knows. It does look like Susan's fears of being taken away again to Carswell have been ended. My own suspicion is that the prosecution, or others in the Justice Department, have awakened to their being used for the purposes of others, and decided that her case really is not as serious as they first thought.

Judge Mukasey pretty much pointed that out in his decision.

There were others who were doing very similar things to which Susan was accused of, as has been pointed out in recent news blogged below, so I can't blame government folks thinking this was more of the same, at first blush, and not wanting an offender to slip through the cracks on a technicality. Even Susan agrees that most of the people in the government want to think of themselves as good people when they go home at the end of the day. Don't get her started on Carswell, though.

Susan says that on her way into New York City for the hearing, last Friday, that she was listening to the radio and heard a familiar voice calling into a radio station, saying that he was a retired federal judge who had enjoyed the station and saying, "...I appreciate your commitment to freedom of speech." She thought it was a bit serendipitous.

Hearing, Friday

Susan will be meeting the new judge at a hearing on Friday. The prosecution is still trying to force the medications one way or another. Now, they want the judge to order her to take them (voluntarily?) under penalty of contempt. That really is risky. If she were to fail in that then they have a lot of latitude as to how long to lock her up. All these drugs have side effects, I think. Some of them are very unpleasant. Lots of ordinary patients learn that the disease is better than the cure.

I remember the quacks at GW Medical convincing me that I needed to be on Depakote, years ago. I complained that it screwed with my ability to concentrate while playing chess, making me nauseous and sleepy, and that I wanted to discontinue it. The doctor gave me a story about how one had to go off of it gradually, and that I needed to stay on it longer just to see if it was beneficial. Then, at the six month mark I went to see him and he told me to just quit it immediately. I figured out, later, that one of the forms I had signed permitted them to use me as a test patient for some study they were doing with Depakote. They didn't give a damn about my well being.

So, I can sympathize with somebody who lives by their wits and who might have real problems with compliance on some of the crap the wrong doctor might throw at them.

One of Susan's friends, Kelly O'meara, wrote me an e-mail and got together with Susan. There was some gathering of Susan's spook friends at a steeple chase in rural Virginia. Susan was all excited about seeing them again. I was wondering, "Aren't these the folks that got you into trouble then left you out to dry?"

It turns out that Kelly just published a book: Psyched Out.

Here are some of the Google hits for her book:

The Expert Witness Radio Show with Michael Levine

Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills That Kill is an ... Award-winning investigative reporter Kelly O'Meara's coverage of the ... www.expertwitnessradio.org/archives/kellyomeara.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Psyched Out - HOW PSYCHIATRY SELLS MENTAL ILLNESS AND PUSHES PILLS ...

She stands out heroically as a beacon of honesty. Read Psyched Out for a dose of truth! ... "As always, investigative reporter, Kelly Patricia O'Meara wins ... psychedout.net/ - 8k - Cached - Similar pages

June 2006 Archives Page

Michael Corbin interviews Kelly O'Meara, author of Psyched Out. 3rd Hour:: Michael hosts Open Lines. Kelly O'Meara's Web Site ... www.4acloserlook.com/june2006.html - 45k - Cached - Similar pages

Lawsuits - Only Weapon Available Against Giant Big Pharma PushersKelly O'Meara's coverage of the adverse effects of psychiatric drugs is virtually ... Her new book, "Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and ...
www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/pharma_lawsuits.html - 38k -

Now, doesn't it seem strange to you that this book so closely parallels Susan's experience with the institutionalized government medical business? To me, it seems as if the government has found another way to impose it's own kind of religion: sanity. And they define the terms and persecute whoever falls outside their definition.

Of course, a real paranoid would wonder where friends like Kelly were when Susan was in trouble and the coincidence of a book that seeds paranoia about psychotropic medicines at the moment when Susan may be called upon to accept them to remain free. Maybe there really are those who want to discredit her?

One of the women on her witness list had a stroke. The lawyer's investigator had said that she wasn't a useful witness, but then I'm hearing from European contacts who claim they've sent depositions to the court via certified mail while Susan claims her lawyer is saying he has received none of this. I think there are others on the list whose health has been going. Yes, there is a lot that tempts me to think about conspiracies. Then again, where are my copies of those certified mailings?

The best answer to a conspiracy may be a better one.

Let us conspire to send a few politicians to war crimes trials, eh? Let's tell the mothers of civilian casualties abroad that they have a lot in common with the mothers of our lost soldiers. Then let's find the folks that made it all happen and have a proper trial.

The thought that has kept running through my head, reading the news accounts following Susan's last hearing is that a few things are for certain: Susan did go to Baghdad. She did meet with senior Iraqi Diplomats, and she did write letters to the Bush administration. Those are significant accomplishments for anyone. Now, they say she was delusional, and they say that what she did was illegal, but what is there excuse for not sending a sane person to receive the same messages, for not exploring every avenue for peace before going to war?

They have no excuse.

You're suppose to just swallow their bull shit, and like it, because they have money and power, and because they've convinced you that they're important.

Maybe each of us needs to empower a different kind of strength in our nation's future. Or heck, maybe it's more important to watch the next television show and just bring home the next paycheck. What is the value of being an American?

Voluntarily

Susan says that, a year ago, she was given a choice of traveling to Carswell in ten days and turning herself in voluntarily, or being escourted by Federal Marshalls immediately.

Links to stories

Symbol Susan -- "Though this be madness..."
ePluribus Media - USA
On Thursday, 11 March 2004, forty-one year old Susan Lindauer -- a former Congressional Aide and reporter -- was arrested and charged with conspiracy, acting ...

Susan Lindauer unfit for trial, judge rules
Anchorage Daily News - Anchorage,AK,USA
... Prosecutors said Susan Lindauer met with Iraqi intelligence officers at places in Baghdad, including Al Rashid Hotel, in 2002, where she accepted $5,000 in cash ...
See all stories on this topic

Judge won't force drugs on accused spy
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
Susan Lindauer is accused of conspiring to act as a spy for the Iraqi Intelligence Service and engaging in banned financial transactions with Saddam Hussein's ...

Susan is Home

Judge Mukasey wrote a VERY interesting decision. I've had time to read only the first 10 pages, but hope to get through the rest of it before motorcycle safety class, this morning. It was his last day in the court room. I got to hear a bit of the preceding case, and while it was the sort of financial law that might bore most folks, I found myself very fascinated with the thoroughness of the decision he was reading into the record. Also, I got to meet an attorney, in the following case who was the defense attorney to debriefed Noriega after his arrest. He allowed as to how it was Noriega who wrote the book on interrogations that the College of the America's uses for a curriculum on the topic. David Lewis? I think that was his name. Must check my notes and will correct this later if not. I'm in a bit of a hurry to get to Gaithersburg for the class.

The judge found no reason not to "enlarge" Susan, letting her return to a free on bail state. I waited half an hour, enjoying the exhibits in the Federal Marshal's office, then they opened a door and unceremoniously let her out in some reasonably unobtrusive looking prison attire. Nice tennis shoes. We had lunch at Goodies, where Parke, Karin, and I ate, at Liz Fink's suggestion, after the first hearing. Then we rode home to Silver Spring to a shrimp dinner at the American Legion where Richard Morgan and Susan, of Silver Spring's Poly Sue's boutique, and Karin Anderson joined us. We stopped briefly at home. Susan went searching for the cats, who had not heard the car arriving at that time of day. She quickly found midnight. Lulu had a hard time coming when called because of a annoying dog she needed to avoid, but snuck in the back kitty door after a few minutes, once we erected some barriers to dogs in that part of the house. Susan was delighted with what Karin had done for the house, and enjoyed meeting the other tenants who Karin had enlisted. She was very grateful to Anula for taking such good care of the cats.

After dinner we stopped at CVS on the way back to Susan's home. I'm looking forward to seeing her for a motorcycle ride this afternoon.

Happy day. Susan had many good things to say about her care at MCC, except that the food was better at Carswell, and of course was just delighted with Judge Mukasey and his decision, as am I with what I've read so far.

I'm sure the prosecutor thinks we're letting one get away, though. I'm sympathetic to the role prosecutors must play and will admit that I don't have the capacity for such a job or that of the Federal Marshals. Susan agreed, when I pointed out that the world does need governments and people in such roles, as unfortunate as that may be. Yet she believes someone was intentionally using the system to punish an asset (her) who had made the mistake of embarrassing the politicians. It's an interesting notion.

Reunion with Midnight

Judge refuses to order drugging of defendant in Iraq spy case in New York - Americas - International Herald Tribune

Judge refuses to order drugging of defendant in Iraq spy case in New York - Americas - International Herald Tribune

This might be good news at last. I just had a call from Susan's lawyer, telling me there will be a hearing at 11:30, tomorrow.

[later posting]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/08/america/NA_GEN_US_Iraq_Spy_Case.php