— by Odysseus
On September 2, 2014, Islamic Society of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists released a video that appears to show that they have now beheaded Steven Sotloff, a second American journalist who was in their custody. Steven Sotloff, a 31 year old Florida resident, had worked as a freelance journalist for Time Magazine, Foreign Policy, and the Christian Science Monitor. He was abducted in Syria by ISIS in August 2013. He was the second American journalist beheaded in as many weeks after James Wright Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria by ISIS in November of 2012. James Foley’s beheading video was briefly available on YouTube.
Although the same Islamic terrorist who has a recognizable British accent beheaded both journalists, there has been no progress made in either identifying him, capturing him, or any attempt to rescue Steven Sotloff. In contrast, the FBI appears very close to catching the hacker who stole nude pictures of actress Jennifer Lawrence and several other imprudent actresses, who thought that it would be clever to save nude photos of themselves in Apple’s iCloud storage system. Their pictures were not posted on YouTube, but, rather, on the obscure website www.4chan.com.
While the FBI is “currently investigating the incident” involving Jennifer Lawrence and her cohorts, it recently succeeded in capturing, prosecuting, and imprisoning the hacker who stole nude pictures of actresses Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, and other celebrities from their e-mail accounts and posted them online. In that case, Christopher Chaney hacked into their email accounts and set them to forward copies of incoming mail to an account he created. He was prosecuted, convicted, and will be jailed for ten years.
It seems as though it only took a few hours before leads in the matter involving Jennifer Lawrence pointed to one Bryan F. Hamade, a 27-year-old Southern Digital Media system administrator and Georgia resident. The early investigation by the internet’s cyber sleuths accused Mr. Hamade of being the man who leaked the photos, based on the same drive names appearing in a screenshot posted by the leaker and ones on an old Reddit post by Mr. Hamade. For his part, Mr. Hamade has denied any involvement in the hacking into Apple’s iCloud storage system.
From this juxtaposition of events, we can conclude that the FBI is clearly much better at protecting Jennifer Lawrence’s boobs than James Foley’s and Steven Sotloff’s necks. Interestingly enough, the same actresses who want to prosecute to the hilt any private citizens who dare to violate their private exhibitionism have not voiced even a single objection to exposing themselves to the voyeuristic eyes of NSA employees and contractors whose violations of privacy are far more extensive and egregious.
In what can only be a weird parallel to Ms. Lawrence’s smash movie series “The Hunger Games,” the real sleuths of cyberspace are brutally efficient at protecting the pampered ruling class from any embarrassment (em bare-ass-ment) that is caused by their own drunken proclivity to memorialize their narcissism. However, the same sleuths seem unwilling to devote their brilliance and resources to track down the Islamist killers who use the same internet to post video confessions of their own murderous hobby.
For some decades now, the leftist progressive party of the United States has accused conservatives as being the servants of a wealthy elite. Yet even a cursory inspection will reveal that they most loudly accuse their opponents of that which they themselves are most culpable in the apparent belief that the best defense is a good offense. For example, former First Lady Hillary Clinton famously blamed a “vast right wing conspiracy” for her husband’s presidential problems. We now know that Mrs. Clinton’s accusations a projection onto others of her own verifiable participation in a “vast left wing conspiracy” of progressive university faculty, administrators, socialist philanthropists, media moguls, Hollywood communists, and fellow travelling Washington bureaucrats.
Similarly, progressives now accuse conservatives of being servants to a wealthy elite of bankers and business owners even though most conservative organizations depend utterly on small grassroot organizations and small contributions by ordinary citizens. It is also true that conservatives consistently voice the interests of the middle-class far more than do the progressive leftists. Compare and contrast for a moment the membership and financial base of the conservative National Rifle Association with the membership and financial base of the progressive Center for American Progress. Consider who attends the events of the conservative Hoover Institute versus the opulent galas put on by the progressive American Civil Liberties Union. Compare the spokespeople and membership lists for conservative “Focus on the Family” and contrast them with the events, contributors, and spokespeople for the progressive “Act Up”.
The gilded elite of the Capital party crews, whether in the real world or in Ms. Lawrence’s fictional “Hunger Games” world, are the only true constituents of the government now. Their interests in advancing their small groups’ interests, trivial or vital, are now the vital interests of the law enforcement and defense bureaucracy. Unlimited government resources and sheer might are now brought down on any domestic dissident or deviant who dares set one toe outside the pronounced legal boundaries protecting the glitterati, whereas they have little concern for the safety, success or security of the “unimportant people”. They have no interest in anyone who is not their pet, their pet project or their immediate servant, and, as such, no resources will be devoted to protecting them.
It is just as true now as it was in every communist or socialist state that has ever existed. The more loudly the elites proclaim that the purpose of the State is to serve the citizenry, the more it really means that the citizenry exists only to serve the State, which, in turn, exists to protect and enrich the lives of the small ruling class and their call-girls/boys in Hollywood.
Although the fabulous world of the elite Democrat clans of Kennedys, Clintons, and Kerrys has been long in developing (another happy birthday Mr. President?), it is only recently, with the Greek columns of the Democratic Convention and the star-studded parties of Grand Field Marshall and President for Life Barack Obama, that the sequined curtains were thrown open to reveal the Presidential gold-plated golf cart in all its tacky glory. The contrast between Democrats and Republicans could not be greater as to whom they serve. Despite great personal wealth, Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush took their vacations on their ranches, where they did physical work to relieve their stress. The opposite is true of Pharaoh Obama and Queen Michelle who use tax dollars to indulge themselves in lavish resort vacations (separately) or to stay in the resplendent vacation homes of their glitterati circle of friends.
The questions that we should ask ourselves is who serves the middle class interests, values, aspirations and safety? Who directs the government’s priorities?
Tragically, Mr. Foley and Mr. Sotloff lost their heads in 2014 to the barbarians of ISIS because the American voters lost their heads in the presidential and congressional elections of 2008. It now inevitable that many more heads will be rolling all over the place in the now inescapable future.
