FOURTH ESTATE

Today I was driving home from an attempted evaluation (he turned me down). I had my cruise control set at 63 so I was exactly 2 miles under the speed limit and driving in the far right hand lane (the slow lane in that state). A state policeman passed me in the left lane going much faster than the speed limit--no light, no sirens. I thought "Boy, you better be on your way to do business as slow as the rest of us have to go". He passed me as if I were standing still. The road is long and flat. When he got up about 1/2 mile or so in front of me, his lights popped on. I thought "He got some poor fool doing two miles over the speed limit". But, nobody pulled over and soon he was well out of sight. So, I continued to plod along in the right hand land. Twenty-five miles later, I hadn't seen anyone pulled to the side of the road and assumed he and his prey had pulled off the highway onto a side road.



Another five miles or so up the road I encounterd him and five other state police cars in the median. All the police cars had their lights blinking. There were three "suspects" sprawled face down in the mud of the median with wrists cuffed behind them. An evidence van was pulling up accompanied by a tow truck. There was a sedate 4 door sedan sitting in the median also. All the seats had been removed. Two doors had been removed. At least two tires had been removed. And, there were several suspicious looking medium sized crates that appeared to be waiting quietly for the evidence van.



I had multiple urges. The reporter part of me was tempted to stop and try to find out what was going on. The individual who values human rights was tempted to stop and inquire of the three suspects as to whether they had lawyers. My "wise mind" told me to "maintain present speed, alter no behaviors, do not rubber neck, keep going straight and steady down the road and attract no attention". I followed "wise mind".



I've been telling myself I am just "nosy" and wanted to know what was going on and giving myself pats on the back for following "wise mind". I've told myself that the state police had to have probable cause to stop that car, search that car, remove the doors, tires, and seats from that car. I've told myself those crates did look very suspicious.

Yet, I know violation of rights and liberty. I see it nearly every day and I know it in my own personal life! I also am a true believer in the "fourth estate" for its explicit capacity of advocacy and its implicit ability to frame political issues. Alongside, that road as those three suspects sprawled in the cold mud of the median, hands cuffed behind their backs there were no lawyers and there were no representatives of the "fourth estate". They were profoundly alone and all of us drove by and left them in the mud alone.

In our house, we argue about the press almost daily. Actually, he rants and makes pronouncements and, for the most part, I keep silent. It's an issue that has the potential to explode like a nuclear warhead in our home. For me, a free press serves to insure freedom. I value a truly free press as much as my right to vote. And, I soothe and comfort myself with the reality that just because I keep silent to maintain our home it does not mean I have been converted.

I fell guilty about not stopping and intervening today. Stopping and intervening would have meant arrest and jailing for interfering with law enforcement. Then, I would have been in jail with no lawyer and no "fourth estate" to speak for me. Landing myself in jail would loose both my licenses and my job. To comfort myself, I just keep telling myself that probably those three suspects were guilty of something.