Alan S. Austin
Arizona Playwright • Writer • Poet
  

DON'T DEFUND THE FBI (9/18)

Jon Gabriel wants to beat up on the FBI. It makes good copy. According to him their director, James Comey, is a publicity seeking hypocrite who was wrong about Trump, about Russian collusion and by inference, the Mueller Report. The Bureau, according to Gabriel, is a bloated government organization, politically motivated, chasing imaginary crimes and needs cutting down to size. No more money should be wasted on the FBI. The reason he has come to this conclusion? A few of the 35,000 FBI agents missed following up on the reported sexual abuse of Olympic gymnasts. This mistake according to Gabriel makes the whole of the FBI suspect. A few agents indeed made a bad mistake and must be held to account. Our armed forces made a mistake and killed innocent Afghan civilians in a missile strike. Mistakes are made. Using those mistakes to argue that all our Armed Forces or all FBI employees are incompetent is a fallacy. Sexual abuse of minors goes on in the shadows every day, ask Gaetz or Prince Andrew what they know. How much of the $700 billion spent on defense is wasted, or misappropriated? Promoting Gabriel's obviously false arguments does the Editorial Board no credit.