'Victimless' Crimes and Presidential Pardons

There is no such thing as a 'victimless' crime, nor is there 'non-violent' crime.

Regardless of what the Office of the President may think, for every action there is a reaction. So-called 'white-collar' crime, in which an actor seizes control of property belonging to another through means of the manipulation of intellectual or financial information, is in itself non-violent; however the losses inflicted have very devastating effects for the victims. Driving someone to suicide because they lost everything they have is an indirect consequence of white-collar crime in some cases and, believe me, suicide can be very violent.

Likewise with convicted narcotics traffickers, only in their cases the results are much more visible. Not only is the blood of overdose deaths on their hands, so too is the blood of every murder committed by addicts in the act of robbing a victim in order to feed their addiction, of every murder victim killed in a drug turf war, of every person who loses their life in a traffic crash caused by someone under the influence of drugs.

The list is endless.

The predominance of crime in the United States is driven by illegal drugs and acts associated with addiction; the aforementioned nurders and robberies, the break-ins, thefts, credit card misuse, bad checks...again, the list is endless. Drug trafficking and drug addiction have taxed police and fire resources to the limit; the health care system, from hospital emergency rooms to addiction treatment centers, are stretched to their breaking points.

Yet the current President sees fit to release from prison these purveyors of death and crime, crime that directly affects each one of us at the very least through skyrocketing insurance rates, by way of his powers of commutation and pardon. According to a study completed by the respected Pew Research Center, almost one-third of federally-sentenced drug traffickers commit new crimes related to trafficking after release, some while still on post-release supervision.

It is a pattern that must change.

It will be a monumental task, hard labor on the part of law enforcement, the court and corrections systems. It must go hand-in-hand with educating the public on drug addiction, an increase in the numbers of federally-funded addiction treatment centers and real sanctions against those countries whose criminal elements continually flood drugs into our nation. It will not be easy, it will not be cost-effective but it must be done; it must be done before we lose an entire generation to addiction and its consequences.

Because, after that generation is lost, so will we lose our nation.

A Maverick Spoke But No One Listened

“…a date which will live in infamy…”

President Franklin Roosevelt opened his speech requesting a declaration of war vote from Congress against the Empire of Japan with those words, words more closely associated with FDR than any others he had ever spoken during his tenure as President.

Roosevelt made that speech before Congress on December 8, 1941, the day after Japan’s infamous attack against military installations on the island of Oahu…an attack that had been predicted by at least one officer in the United States Navy as early as the end of March, 1941.

That officer’s name was then-Captain Ellis Zacharias, a man who knew of whence he spoke.

Zacharias, you see, had twice been posted as Naval Attache in Japan during his two tours of service as an intelligence officer; during his time there, Zacharias developed numerous contacts within the Japanese military and intelligence community, most of whom regarded the young officer with great respect for having learned their native language and becoming fluent in it. Captain Zacharias, a skilled poker player, had on occasion played cards with the man who would one day conceive and develop attack plans for Pearl Harbor.

That Japanese officer was Isoroku Yamamoto, a man who would become the Empire’s most beloved war hero.

Captain Zacharias also tasked himself with learning as much as he could about Japanese culture and its military mindset, a project that would culminate in a meeting with Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet, a full nine months prior to the unannounced attack that would have completely decimated America’s Pacific sea power had the aircraft carriers Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga been in port.

During that meeting, Captain Zacharias told Kimmel that rising tensions between the United States and the expansionist Japanese Empire would precipitate a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor “…on a weekend, probably on a Sunday morning…” by using carrier-based aircraft positioned north of the Hawaiian Islands because of the prevailing winds. Zacharias expanded on his theory by telling CINCPAC Kimmel that the attack could be prevented by conducting daily patrols using aircraft and fleet vessels out to a distance of 500 miles from the islands; Kimmel’s response that it would be an impossible task due to manpower and resource limitations caused Zacharias to respond: “Well, Admiral, you’d better get them because that is what is coming.”

Nine months later, as Captain Zacharias steamed into Pearl Harbor as commander of the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City the day after the attack, the profound destruction that greeted him was no surprise. In addition to Admiral Kimmel, Zacharias had also warned a staff member of then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Harold Stark in November, 1941, that an attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent. However, based on Zacharias’ perceived maverick attitude amongst naval hierarchy, his warnings fell on deaf ears.

Ellis Zacharias would go on to earn commendations and battle stars for the ships he commanded during the war, in part prompting his promotion to Rear Admiral upon his retirement from the Navy in 1946. His aspiration to the office of Director of Naval Intelligence, however, was never met, having been passed over for that position due in part to his ‘loose cannon’ reputation amongst Navy brass because of, among other things, the revelation of warnings he’d issued prior to December 7^th, 1941.

As in the business world, you can’t make your superiors look inept and expect a promotion.

Ellis Zacharias died in West Springfield, New Hampshire, due to complications after suffering a heart attack, on June 27, 1961. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

                           

Rear Admiral Ellis Zacharias