Author Archive

Is it time to shut down the FBI?

Posted: January 24, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

The FBI is one of the most ineffective police organizations in the world and should be put out of its misery.

Over the past 50 years, I had a variety of run-ins and interactions with the Feebs—none of which gave me some confidence about the bureau.

In 1971, the FBI brought me in for questioning. I had taken a photo of an old country bank for a college course, and I had the suspicious look of a college student.

In 1973, several dozen reporters, including me, walked through an FBI “lockdown” of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where the American Indian Movement had set up a protest over U.S. government misdeeds toward Native Americans.

A few months later, I was reconstructing the events over the murder of Fred Hampton, a Black Panther who had been killed in Chicago by the FBI and local police.

As part of a counterintelligence program, known as COINTELPRO, the FBI had taken a keen interest in Hampton, a rising star in the Panther leadership. In the early morning of December 4, 1969, the FBI and the local cops shot and killed Hampton as he slept in an apartment. A later investigation found that only one shot had been fired from inside the apartment.

Fast forward to the Middle East. The FBI usually heads up the investigation when U.S. citizens and representatives die outside the country under suspicious circumstances.

In 1978, I was one of a handful of reporters who flew into the compound of Jim Jones and his followers, where more than 900 people had died. Surprisingly, only two local soldiers guarded the farming community, and it took days before the FBI secured the site.

The FBI also bungled investigations of the U.S. embassy attack in Beirut and the later bombing of the Marine compound in which 241 military personnel died. Again, I arrived a short time after these events and found that the FBI had failed to secure the locales and, subsequently, to find much actionable intelligence about what had happened and who was behind the attacks.

Although I had less contact with the FBI as I moved into academia, I was dumbstruck by the ineptitude before 9/11 and afterward. The political enmity toward Donald Trump and his allies underscored how poorly the FBI had served the country.

As Congress prepares to take a good, hard look at the FBI, the agency needs more than reform, and it may be time to shutter the doors and devise an entirely different approach to national policing.

Update (DTG) Welcome Hotair Headlines readers. If you like Christopher Harper’s work you can find him here every Tuesday Morning at DaTechGuyblog.blog and of course you can find the rest of our Magnificent Seven Writers all during the week.

Pennsylvania: A worthwhile recount

Posted: January 10, 2023 by chrisharper in election 2020
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, where I live, launched one of the few recounts of the 2020 presidential election this week.

The recount won’t change the election results, but the inquiry should provide at least one significant example of what happened.

I don’t think the election was stolen on November 3, 2020. I think the election was stolen by various questionable laws that made it easier to vote via mail and without adequate oversight for the identification of voters.

In 2019, the Pennsylvania legislature voted to allow voters to mail in ballots for 50 days before the election and extended the time to register.

In Lycoming County, which has about 75,000 eligible voters, registered Democrats dropped by 1.3% between 2016 and 2020. But Joe Biden received nearly 30% more votes than Hillary Clinton, and Biden received 8,814 votes on Election Day and 7,911 in mail ballots.

All told, Donald Trump got 41,462 votes, or 69.8%, to 16,971 for Biden, or 28.57%.

Keep in mind Biden won the 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, a critical state in the presidential election, by 80,000 votes, 3.458 million to 3.377 million.

In a small snapshot of the Lycoming County vote in 2020, investigators found the following:

–2,590 registrations were removed from voter rolls

–268 duplicate registrations

–526 inactive voters

–55 mail-in ballots were recorded without voter identifications

–108 mail-in ballots were received after Election Day

–74 mail-in ballots were recorded from out of state

For more information, see Audit the Vote at www.auditthevotepa.com.

Jeff Stroehman, the chair of Lycoming County for Trump 2020, said it was not the group’s intention to “tear down an institution called voting, but to restore public confidence in the election process.”

The recount is expected to conclude by Friday at the cost of $55,000.

I know the recount won’t affect any election, but the inquiry should answer questions that still puzzle many people here in central Pennsylvania.

Barbara Walters: The art of the interview for everyone

Posted: January 3, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags:

By Christopher Harper

As a journalist with the Associated Press and Newsweek, I interviewed some interesting and important people, from Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat to the killers of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and the survivors of Jim Jones’ haven in Guyana.

But I was a neophyte compared to Barbara Walters. During nearly a decade of working with her, I came to understand why she was so good at interviews.

When I left 20/20 for academia, I asked her if it was all right to provide some of her secrets to budding journalists, and she agreed.

But I think her techniques can help almost anyone interviewing other people or finding out information about any subject like Medicare plans and benefits.

First, research a topic or a person thoroughly. Know as much as possible to formulate a list of questions. Barbara had a photographic memory, so it was easy for her to recall all the details.

Second, carefully select the questions and try to anticipate the answers.

Before each interview, Barbara and I each would write down questions on three-by-five cards. We’d then meet in person to edit the questions. Some would be included, others rejected, and some would be combined.

Some questions would try to elicit long answers: Tell me how you feel about this or that.

Some questions were intended to evoke a yes-or-no reply. Barbara’s most famous question of this type occurred when she asked Vladimir Putin if he’d ever ordered someone killed.

Some questions weren’t questions but statements of fact to prompt a response. You said you felt alone…. Pregnant pause…

When we’d chosen 30 to 35 questions, Barbara’s assistant would type the questions on several four-by-six cards. These cards remained in Barbara’s lap or hand without the audience being unable to see the cards.

As the producer, I would listen to the interview subject’s answers and make sure that he or she had adequately responded and made sure Barbara had asked all the questions. If something were off by only a bit, we’d redo the question and answer at the end of the interview.

Third, and perhaps most important: Barbara listened.

The rigid structure of the questions resembled a well-choreographed dance, but Barbara could and did drift away from the questions if she found something of interest.

It’s essential to ensure you don’t overlook information simply because it doesn’t fit into the choreography.

Like most everything in life, you need to get all the details and listen to what others say.

Barbara Walters made her mark by doing both better than anyone else in journalism.

New Year’s resolution: Write your obit before you die

Posted: December 27, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

As people consider resolutions for the coming year, I’d like to make a suggestion: Write down your life story before you die. In other words, do it now!

James R. Hagerty, an obituary writer for The Wall Street Journal, makes a strong case for writing your own obituary.  

“When it comes to money and real estate, most of us make careful arrangements for what will happen after we die. Why not take equal care of our stories, which can’t be retrieved once lost?” Hagerty muses. “Think of the stories you’ve heard your partner or parents tell a thousand times. They are precious. When someone dies, we need those stories—not in a vague, half-remembered, secondhand form but in the original version, with all the plot twists, nuances, and personal storytelling quirks. Your own words and insights are more illuminating than others’ eulogies and tributes.”

I had the opportunity to write a quasi-autobiography about a decade ago, which was a lot of fun. That book, Flyover Country, recounted the tales of my life and those of my fellow high school graduates from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I even made a few bucks from the publication.

Hagerty makes the following suggestions:

–Preserve your stories now while the memories are vivid.
–The best stories show what you have done, why, and how. Starting points include how you got on a career path; what you are trying to do with your life and how it works out; your biggest triumphs and failures, and what you have learned from them.
–Include the oddest, funniest, most wonderful, and awful things that have happened to you.

Hagerty suggests that people write their obituaries, making it easier for loved ones when the time comes. Writing a letter or an email to a friend or loved one is another way of putting one’s thoughts together. If someone doesn’t like to write, record one’s life stories.

For those needing help, software such as Storyworth or MemLife provides a template with questions and the option to create a book.

Hagerty has some cautionary notes. “Revealing too much about certain topics could hurt or offend loved ones. Life-story writers must consider what to leave out, particularly marital and family issues.

Make sure you organize those hundreds of photos you’ve taken over the years, including as much information as much about the dates, places, and people in the snapshots.

Whatever the case, it’s time to start recording those memories—not only for your family but for yourself.

Older Entries
Newer Entries